Battlestar Galactica:  The Second Fleet
by Vinnie Warlock
Summary: The Fleet is shaken by the arrival of another Fleet of survivors, and as ghosts from the past are brought into light, mistrust, prejudice and conspiracies flourish. Rated M for Adult situations, Violence and Language.
1. Act I:  DRADIS Contact

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Admiral Pieter Finley (deceased)

Colonel Tillius Phineas (deceased)

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, Post "Razor", Pre "Downloaded".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act I – DRADIS Contact**

[Day 251 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[BSG75 - Galactica]

The Klaxon from the DRADIS contact alert sounded on the CIC as the voice of **Lieutenant Gaeta** was heard on the speakers aboard the _Galactica_.

- "Action Stations, Actions Stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill." - Felix spoke, and proceeded to repeat himself, glancing sideways to the XO.

**Colonel Saul Tigh **kept his eyes on the ceiling monitors, observing all the data that flowed as the machine got continuous readings from the bogeys that had just jumped in sensor range. From one of the doors, the old veteran saw **Admiral Bill Adama** entering the CIC.

- "Sit-Rep, Colonel." - The Admiral ordered.

- "A dozen of bogeys just appeared in DRADIS range. I have Kat and Hotdog on intercept course." - Saul replied.

- "Alert the Fleet to emergency jump." - Adama said, and turning to the Comm Station, he said - "Get me _Pegasus_."

Saul looked at his old friend and said:

- "You gonna send the kid to take them out?" - Tigh asked, with a smirk.

- "To delay them, until the fleet is ready to jump." - Adama replied.

The Colonel looked at the screen and said:

- "I'd say that junior is eager to take the fight. He's moving in already." - Tigh said.

Adama grabbed the phone, as he heard the voice of his son on the other side:

-==_Pegasus Actual speaking. Get the fleet out of here, Admiral. We will delay them as much as we can ==- _**Commander Lee Adama** spoke

- "Delay them, but don't take unnecessary risks, Commander" - The Admiral said - "Your ship is still repairing the damage from your last mission."

- "We will be careful." - Lee replied.

On the Ops Console, Felix turned to the Admiral and said:

- "Sir, I'm getting Colonial Transponders!" - Gaeta said, with a surprised look on his face. A feeling that immediately took over the officers in the CIC...

Saul and Bill eyes met, and the Colonel said:

- "Could it be again?" - Tigh asked.

Over the phone, Lee asked:

-== _We're picking that up too. Could it be more survivors? ==-_ The _Pegasus _CO asked.

- "I don't know, but we're gonna find out. Hold your horses, Pegasus." - The Admiral said, hanging up and turning to the comm station once again - "Hold the jump."

On her station, **Anastasia Dualla** punched some buttons and contacted the fleet captains:

- "All ships, _Galactica_: Hold jump. Say again, Hold jump." - Dualla spoke.

She looked at the Admiral, and he spoke:

- "Ship to ship, Colonial priority one channel. Send hostile challenge and ID." - Adama said - "And put the reply on the speakers."

Saul looked at his friend, and with a shrug of his shoulders, he said:

- "Who knows, maybe we got lucky?" - Tigh said.

- "Maybe..." - Bill replied.

- "Attention unknown vessels. This is the Battlestar _Galactica_. Identify yourselves or we will fire upon you." - Dualla gave the ultimatum.

For a few seconds, everyone on the CIC looked expectantly at the speakers, until a feminine voice sounded on the speakers:

-==_ This is the Battlestar Pacifica to Galactica. Weren't you guys supposed to be a museum now?" _==- the voice asked, half-jokingly.

With a look of recognition on his face, Saul said:

- "Admiral Finley's ship?" - The XO asked.

- "Get me direct contact." - Adama asked, looking at Dualla.

He picked up the phone and spoke:

- "_Pacifica_, this is _Galactica _Actual. Authenticate identity with recognition codes immediately." - Amada ordered.

As he waited a moment on the phone, Dualla spoke:

- "I'm receiving their codes now" - She said, and with a smile on her face, she added - "They're authentic."

- "_Galactica _to _Pacifica_, your codes match. Admiral Finley, Thank the Gods that you're and Loudmouth Tillius are alive."

Simultaneously on the speakers and over the phone, another voice came:

-==_Pacifica Actual to Galactica. I'm sorry, sir, but Admiral Finley and Colonel Phineas are __dead._==- a voice that definitely sounded a lot younger than the Veteran Admiral

- "Who am I speaking to?" - Adama asked.

-==_Commander Warryk, Sir. I'm the Commanding Officer of the ship._==- the voice replied.

Bill looked at Tigh, that said:

- "Phineas was the only other person I knew on _Pacifica_. I have no idea who this kid is." - Saul replied.

- "Err.. Sir?" - Felix Gaeta raised his hand slightly.

- "Yes, Mr Gaeta." - Tigh acknowledged him

- "Lieutenant Warryk was the Operations Officer to the _Pacifica_." - Felix informed - "We've met in Virgon last year on training."

The XO and CO looked at Gaeta and at each other, and Saul spoke:

- "Quick path to promotion when no one is above you?" - Saul suggested, with his usual wits

- "Welcome, Commander Warryk. I'm Admiral William Adama, and I'm in charge of this fleet." - Adama greeted.

A few more seconds of silence, and then more communication:

-==_Admiral, Sir, is Admiral Cain of the Pegasus not in charge of the fleet?_== - Warryk asked.

'_Great, one of Cain's loyalists...'_ Adama thought for a moment, already foreseen the problems, and by the look on Tigh's face, he had though the same thing

- "Admiral Cain died a few months ago." - Adama said

-==_Well, sir. That's a relief. Then I don't have to worry about placing her under arrest for the massacre and looting of the Scylla and the civilian ships that they found months ago __then._==- Warryk replied

Adama looked at Tigh, that was a surprised as he was by the words that had just been spoken by the _Pacifica'_s CO...

[An Hour later, on the Razor going to _Pacifica]_

Two Razors, one from _Pegasus_ and another one from _Galactica_, both carrying their respective COs and XOs, were being escorted by A detachment of Vipers from _Pacifica_, as they approached the docking bay.

- "So, you gonna pull rank on the Kid or what?" - Saul asked, looking at the Admiral.

- "We will see. At least they kept the civilians with them instead of doing the same thing as Cain did." - Bill replied.

- "You know him, right, Mr. Gaeta?" - **President Laura Roslin** asked, from her cramped seat.

- "We had training together, Madam President, but it lasted only a month." - Felix replied.

- "Well, that's a month more that the rest of us had to know him." - Laura replied – "What can you tell about him?"

Gaeta noticed that Tigh and Adama were also waiting for his answer, and he said:

- "His family is from Virgon, I think, and... he was very good in engineering and electronics, and... he had a good sense of humor. Other than that, I don't remember much." - Felix spoke.

- "Well, he certainly has guts, coming here to arrest a Admiral in _The Beast_ using this Valkyrie Class ship." - Tigh replied, as he saw the insides of the Docking bay out the window.

- "Either that or he's the most ingenuous officer in the Colonial Fleet, thinking that he would just show up and say '_You're under arrest'_ to a Rear Admiral and that was it." - Adama replied.

They felt the ship dock on the magnetic bay, as the Docking Station saluted them on the radio. There was something that Adama really felt uneasy with this whole situation. When Cain showed up months ago, she came to the Galactica and soon, despite her saying that she would not interfere with his command, she created conflict and almost executed Agathon and Tyrol. Now, he was walking a mile in her shoes, and it didn't feel comfortable, at all.

He didn't know the Commander of the _Pacifica_, and from the few minutes they had over the comm, Bill was sure that this guy didn't fit the standard Colonial Officer profile, and that could be a liability, something he certainly didn't need right now, but he didn't want to make the same mistake of his predecessor.

Noticing that he had left everyone on the Raptor out of his musings, as he heard the door sealing being released, he finally said:

- "And what did he meant by telling us to '_keep a open mind to the situation_'?" - Adama asked to no one in particular.

As the door was lifted, and they stared at the officers lined up in the Hangar Deck, Adama wished that he had not asked that, as the Universe was giving him a hell of an answer...

- "Oh, my gods..." - Laura let it slip, in shock as she brought a hand to her mouth by reflex...

- "Frak me.." - Saul exclaimed.

Adama rose from his seat and out of the Raptor, to face dozens of officers, some of them, faces that he didn't recognize, but others, faces he knew all too well, repeated over and over again, in the copies of Cylons Twos, Threes, Sixes and Eights, scattered among the officers, all in Colonial uniforms, lined up as part of the Crew. Behind them, the Admiral also noticed a few Centurions, standing guard, and a pair of Raiders near the Vipers.

Feeling the hand of Roslin on his arm, he helped her come out of the viper, as the man right in front of then, with a Six by his side gave one step ahead and shouted:

- "President of the Colonies, Admiral of The Fleet, on Deck!" - **Commander Jann Warryk** spoke.

All of the crew, including the Cylons, saluted.

**End of Act **


	2. Act II: The Mixed Fleet

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Admiral Pieter Finley (deceased)

Colonel Tillius Phineas (deceased)

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, Post "Razor", Pre "Downloaded".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act II – The Mixed Fleet**

[Day 251 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.125 Humans, 724 Cylons]

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

[Commander's Office – An hour later]

In the office that once belonged to Admiral Finley, **Admiral Bill Adama** was struggling to assimilate all the information that the _Pacifica_'s CO was throwing at them. Besides him, **Lee Amada**, CO of the _Pegasus_ was also having a hard time trying to wrap his mind around the absurd tale of the newcomers.

They had survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies because they were on a classified mission just beyond the border of Colonial Space. Half of their ships were part of the initial fleet, with a few research vessels, a refinery, a factory ship, two lab vessels, two armed dreadnoughts and half a dozen other ships; hardly a regular fleet configuration for the Colonial Fleet, and more like a Deep Space Expedition. For reasons that their Commander claimed not knowing, all the ships in the mission didn't have the updated CNP that the Cylons sabotaged.

They escaped intact the initial attack, and only saw battle when they rescued the four remaining ships of the fleet that were left behind by _Colonial One _(including the _Botanic Bay_, much to Lee's and Laura's relief and embarrassment), a daring effort that ultimately cost the lives of Admiral Finley, Colonel Phineas and many others, as they held of the Cylon attack while their ships with towing capacity jumped away with the civilians.

They also found among the way the ships left behind by _Pegasus_, that had miraculously survived for weeks after being raided by one of their own, and finally, the Derelict Basestar, where their Cylons originated from. They knew about the Fleet's quest for Earth, and they where well informed about the facts, including the fact that they had a Cylon prisoner aboard _Galactica_, and that she was pregnant; yet another thing that made Adama wary, as the source of the information allegedly came from Cylon databases.

Adama noticed the flaming glare that his XO, **Saul Tigh** was dispensing to the _Pacifica_'s XO, a Six wearing Captain's pins named **Leela**. She didn't pay much attention to the old man (as opposed the brief and heated exchange the two of them had right after they disembarked), as she kept in silence most of the time, with he hand half immersed in some kind of Cylon equipment, with a transparent liquid inside, that a far as the Admiral could notice, gave her access to the computers and communication. What shocked Bill the most, was however the easiness of her CO with the whole thing.

- "... and after we raided their Outpost for parts and supply, we got word of the destruction of the Resurrection Ship, and we knew that the _Pegasus_ was involved, so we decided to act." - **Commander Jann Warryk **explained, in a gentle tone.

The young Commander looked **Laura Roslin**, as she was listening to him intently, and waited for another round of questions:

- "So, if you knew that we were here and that the Cylons were hunting us, why didn't you show up before? Why now?" - Roslin asked.

Warryk took of his dark rimmed glasses, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping the lenses clean, as he spoke:

- "We were not sure about where you were, who you were, and pretty much we had a enemy fleet between us and you guys." - He explained - "As long as we ran some misdirection and false trails for them to follow and give your fleet some relief, we were comfortable with that. We couldn't risk a direct confrontation with their armada, as we were still repairing and re-equipping the ships we had found."

- "But you could have sent scouts to make contact." - Lee said.

- "Commander, I had a fleet of ships with geminated ships sharing overclocked FTLs, and a sick Cylon population recuperating from a deadly decease." - Jann replied, putting his glasses back on with a slight chuckle - "I was already having a hard time keeping the officers and civilians from airlocking defenseless Cylons, without adding a second fleet to the equation, with individuals that I didn't know, but with the same kind of hatred and desire for revenge that I had to contain and dissolve here."

- "A well earned desire for revenge, after all that _they _did." - Tigh retorted with contempt.

Captain Leela raised her eyes from the console and looked intently at the Colonel, that looked back at her, silently confronting her. Adama took note of the way Warryk moved slightly close to his XO, and turned to Tigh:

- "Two wrongs don't make a right, Colonel Tigh." - Warryk said, with the same gentle voice.

- "I cant believe that I'm hearing this.." - Saul said, with a lecturing tone - "They destroyed our homeworlds, Kid! They killed billions of people!"

- "And they learned that from us." - Warryk replied, quickly adding - "Murder, deceit, disregard for life, that's all us, Colonel. Our history pages are full of theses things. And when humanity created the Cylons, those were the things that we taught them."

- "We didn't wipe out an entire race, Commander." - Lee replied.

- "But we did annihilated civilizations in Kobol, and we killed many in our own wars after that. And up to the fall of the Colonies, we were exploiting our own, neglecting our own and letting famine and decease spread among the poorest and disenfranchised." - Warryk said, with a severe tone.

Adama looked at his son, that didn't reply to the words that the _Pacifica_'s CO spoke, and looked at Laura, that had a glint of admiration on her face. He looked back at Tigh, that seemed to be unconvinced, but didn't speak, as he was looking directly at the Admiral for his own input. The Admiral looked at Warryk, that put his hand on the table and took a deep breath. To Adama, seemed like the young man wasn't done with his speech yet:

- "Look... what I'm trying to say is, Cylons call themselves Children of Humanity for a reason: we created them. It was our duty to teach them the best aspects of humanity, like we do with our own children. We've failed them, and everyone knows the result." - Warryk said - "I had the chance to do things differently, to extend a hand instead of shackles and the barrel of a gun, and I took that chance."

Laura turned from the Commander to the Cylon in the room, and asked:

- "And you? What is your opinion in all of that?" - Roslin asked

Leela looked slightly surprised at the President of the Colonies, and turned for a moment to Jann. He just looked at her, with his face slightly redder from the outburst, and she turned again to Roslin:

- "Jann... I'm mean, Commander Warryk, could have left us for dead on that ship, or he could have made prisoners of all of us, or airlocked all of us, without resistance." - Leela said, turning her head to Tigh for a moment, just to turn back to Roslin - "We were at his mercy, and he nursed me and my brothers and sisters back to health, and let us free to decide our destiny."

- "And why didn't you go back to your people?" - Admiral Adama asked, giving his trademark glance at the Six.

The Six didn't hold her glance towards the Admiral as hard as she had done with the others, as she spoke:

- "We had been separated from the Unity. They saw what the disease had done to us, and feared that we could spread that throughout the Cylons. Our link to the Resurrection Ship was severed, and we were left to die, alone." - Leela revealed, with a hint of bitterness

She looked to the mosaic on the wall for a moment, and her face looked pained for a second, before becoming stoic again:

- "Some of us tried to make contact, tell them that we were alive and healthy, but the Ones and Fives cut our access to the rest of the Unity. Our own Ones, Fives and Fours went to them and tried to reason with them, but they were exterminated." - The Captain explained - "Then, they came for us, determined to eradicate us, and this crew and this ship defended us and kept us from harm. We own our lives to the Commander, and he has our gratitude, our loyalty, and that's why we are a part of this fleet now."

Adama looked at Lee, Saul and Laura, and them spoke directly to Warryk:

- "Very well.. now, Commander, why did you seek us now?" - Adama asked

- "Well, sir, as I said before, we didn't know until the last raid that the _Pegasus_ had encountered your fleet. We found the information on the Cylon database" - Jann said - "Months ago, we found the ships they left for dead, after they murdered innocents, conscripted people against their will and stripped their ships of engines and equipment, and I was decided not to let that happen again."

The Commander gave a lighthearted smile, and said:

- "But, as I've said, I'm glad that we didn't have to get into a fight, and that would amount to casualties." - Warrik said, and looking into a piece of paper, he added - "Another thing left on that matter is finding officer's Shaw and Fisk, and the two marines that shot the civilians aboard the _Scyllar_."

Lee looked at his father, and then to **Louis Hoshi**, his acting XO, that said:

- "Colonel Fisk was assassinated months ago, Major Shaw died on a mission weeks ago, and I believe that the marines that you are referring to are also dead, killed in action." - Hoshi said.

- "nevertheless, I would like to request a formal investigation, so that everything is documented and the people that have been wronged have closure." - Warryk said - "What leave us with the last point: the conscripted civilians taken against their will."

Adama thought of saying something on the matter, but Lee spoke first:

- "I wont hold anyone on _Pegasus_ against their will. And I'm certainly not going to keep families separated" - Lee informed - "Have your staff officer contact the Pegasus and we will inform our people that you have their families aboard, and they will be free to leave if they desire to do so."

- "Thank you, Commander." - Warryk said.

- "Very well. I believe that we took already too much time of your time, Commander." - Adama said, taking charge again. - "We have to convey with the Quorum about the Cylons in your crew, so, for your own protection, You should keep your ships apart from the other ships."

- "I understand, Admiral." - Warryk said. - "It will take some time to mingle them."

Warryk moved around the table, as did Adama, and as they were face to face, Jann spoke:

- "... Sir, there is another matter that I need to inform you." - He said.

- "Go ahead." - Adama said.

- "You see, sir, before the attack, I was a Lieutenant, and as the senior staff died at the attack or shortly after, my rank and those of my senior staff are field commissions." - Warryk said - "You're the Admiral of the Fleet, so, I'm submitting to you, along with my logs, all the promotions I've made to your evaluation."

Adama could feel the looks of Lee, Saul and Laura even without looking at them. That was the moment that he dreaded. That was the chance he had to make things differently from what Cain had done. But theses were completely different situations. He didn't have but one Cylon aboard, and she was in the brig. The kid in front of him, barely older than what Zak were when he graduated , with his dark rebellious hair and easy smile, not only had dozens of Cylons in his ship, but had them as crew, even promoting one of them as XO, something that he, Bill Adama would never, ever, do. But he didn't want to be Cain...

- "Are you ready to step down from your command if I deem necessary, Mr. Warryk?" - The Admiral asked.

Adama made note of the surprised and fearful look that Leela gave her Superior for a moment. '_No, not like Cain...'_

- "Admiral, I'm a officer of the Fleet, Sir." - Jann said - "But I'm also the leader of my fleet, Sir, and I'm not prepared to is to put at risk the safety and freedom of my crew and the civilian population under our protection, include our Cylon population. We all voted before we arrived that if your fleet is not willing to honor the same commitments we made, we will keep on the same path, but as a separated Fleet, providing assistance when needed obviously, until we find Earth."

Adama's eyebrow raised for a moment. Saul was right, the Kid had guts, even if he wasn't the usual Command profile, but then, he could hardly call their situation "usual":

- "For now, we will keep your commitment, Mr. Warryk, but this is as much as a Military decision as it is a political decision." - Adama said - "On my part, I'm making permanent your field commission and Command, and you can do the same for your officers."

- "Thank you, Sir." - Warryk replied.

- "You're welcome, Commander." - Adama replied, saluting him back, and then, offering his hand.

The two officers shook hands, and Warryk then moved to the same to Tigh, Lee, Felix, Hoshi and Roslin, as Adama turned to Leela, that saluted him in military fashion. He did the same, and then said:

- "Congratulations, Captain." - Adama said.

- "Thank you, Sir." - Leela replied.

Adama considered for a moment, and extended his hand to the blonde Cylon, that accepted the gesture with grace.

**End of Act**


	3. Act III: Envoys

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Admiral Pieter Finley (deceased)

Colonel Tillius Phineas (deceased)

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

Master Chief Officer Helena Xander (Hangar Chief)

Jr. Lieutenant Sharon "Isis" Eight (Pilot)

Flip (Raider)

Centurion Sargent Aton

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, Post "Razor", Pre "Downloaded".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act III – Envoys**

[Day 251 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.125 Humans, 724 Cylons]

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

[At the same time, in the Hangar Deck]

**Kara Thrace**, CAG of _Pegasus_ was still too suspicious to leave their Raptors alone. She and **Louanne Katraine**, Acting CAG of _Galactica_ stayed behind, with two of their marines. It didn't take long for the local crew take interest in them...

- "Excuse-me, Captain." - a voice behind Kara got her attention.

Thrace turned, finding a tall brunette woman with drop-dead gorgeous appearance talking to her. They both saluted quickly, as Kara spoke:

- "Yes?" - Kara asked, relieved that it was not a _skinjob_ that was talking to her.

**Helena Xander**, Hangar Chief of the _Pacifica_ looked at the blonde that a good feet shorter than her and said:

- "I need to move these birds out." - Helena said, pointing out at two vipers and a Cylon Raider, that had the same light blue stripes as the Vipers painted on its hull.

- "You're not seriously telling me that you gonna put _that thing_ together with your vipers, are you?" - Kara asked.

- "That thing, _Sir_, is called **Flip**, and is part of the _Tau Wing_." - Helena said, with attitude - "So, yes, I gonna put him with his wing, _Sir._"

- "No, not in Fleet space, you're not." - Thrace replied.

- "With all due respect, Sir, this is a decision for the Senior staff of this vessel, Sir, and we are following our procedures." - Xander replied. - "Those birds will fly, Raider included."

- "The hell it will!" - Kat said, besides Kara.

Helena curved slightly to get down to face the Acting CAG, as Kat tried her best to stay tall and face the brunette back. They only noticed the approach of another pilot when she pronounced herself:

- "Is there a problem, Chief?" The Cylon Eight and _Tau Wing_ leader known as **Lieutenant Sharon "Isis"** asked.

Immediately Helena turned and saluted her:

- "Lieutenant!" - The Chief greeted - "I was about to move these Raptors, Sir."

- "At easy, Chief." - Isis replied, and looking at Kara and Kat, she said - "Captain Thrace, Lieutenant Katraine, is there a problem?"

Kat looked at Starbuck, that was displeased to say the least with being in front of a copy of Boomer...

- "Yes, there is a problem, Boomer." - Kara said - "That _thing_ is not flying anywhere near our fleet."

- "Isis." - The Eight replied

- "Pardon me?" - The blonde said.

- "My name is Isis." - The Lieutenant informed - "The same way that the Eight you have in the brig back on _Galactica_ is not the same person as Boomer, I'm not her either."

Kara looked in disbelieve for a moment, giving a sarcastic laugh, and then replied:

- "Well then, _Isis._" - Thrace said, with contempt - "There will be no Raiders flying in Fleet Space, Ditto."

Isis looked at Helena, that was still there, and said:

- "Ask Captain Blackthorne to report to the hangar, please." - She asked, and looking back to Starbuck, she said - "He's our CAG. You should take that up to him, Sir. Now, if you excuse me."

Isis gave a quick salute, and turned on her heels, returning to the Vipers. Helena looked at her pilot, and then back at the two visitors, and turned around, moving away. Kat looked at Kara, that was observing the Eight approach the other pilots, some of them Cylons, but most of them humans, and they showed no reservation with her. '_Kinda like when Helo's Sharon was with her and Anders' resistance in Caprica, like you treated her._'

The though on the back of her mind had an accusatory, lecturing tone, and a hint of sadness showed on Kara's eyes. Sam was still in Caprica, still fighting, and she had not returned yet, as she had promised...

Her thoughts were interrupted by Kat elbowing her. As the Blonde turned to her pilot, she noticed the detachment of Centurions and marines moving from the far end of the Deck towards them.

- "Oh, Frak..." - Kara said, putting her hand on her gun holster.

Kat noticed the gesture and did the same, but refraining from drawing the weapon as Starbuck had not taken her own gun out yet.

- "Move! Move!" - The marine shouted at them, as they kept moving.

It was obvious at that point that they were not the target of the moving forces. The group passed, but one of the Centurions stopped and turned to Kat and Kara:

-==Stay close to your ships, pilots.== - The Centurion spoke, with a synthesized voice

- "Oh-kayyy.." - Kara replied, more surprised to hear the cyborg's voice than anything else.

The hand of the Centurion transformed from the long fingers to the weapon, as he pointed towards the lift, as did all of the other centurions and marines. Kat thought of asking what was going on, but as soon as a Heavy Raider was lowered on the lift, she understood. Different from all the other Cylon ships on the hangar, that Raider had no paintings or Colonial Emblems. That was not one of _Pacifica_'s ships, and that didn't look good to Kat, at all.

Kara noticed as Isis, and a Number Six walked ahead the line, with guns drawn and aimed at the Raider. The sealed doors soon opened, and Kara, looking for a better view, climbed the Raptor, being followed by Kat as soon as she understood the idea her fellow pilot had.

- "What the hell is going on, Starbuck?" - Kat asked.

- "I don't know, but whatever it is I don't like it." - Kara replied.

She saw a middle aged man coming out, followed by two other Cylons that she knew very well.

- "Oh, Frak." - Kara exclaimed - "Its Simon and Lioben!"

To make things worse, The Lioben that had just arrived noticed her, and waved, smiling, getting the attention of Simon and the other Cylon.

- "Frak me!" - Kara cursed, as she jumped down to the floor.

-"Starbuck, wait!" - Kat said, as she saw the Blonde Ace on the move.

Kara made her way, trough the crowd, getting almost to the three Cylons, when she was stopped by two Centurions. Much to her annoyace:

- "Let go of me, you oversized Toaster!" - Starbuck shouted, as she glared with fire in her eyes at Leoben and Simon.

- "Hello again, Kara Thrace. Fancy meeting you here." - Leoben greeted.

- "You bastard!" - Kara replied, still trying to free herself from the Centurion. - "What are you doing here? And Why did you bring this Sick Frak with you?"

Simon smiled coldly, has he knew that the insult was directed to him:

- "Miss Thrace, its a pleasure to see you again" - Simon replied

- "Not as much as pleasurable as it will be when a put a bullet in your head, you Monster!" - Kara replied.

- "Still the same fiery personality, I see." - The Cylon Four replied, and turning to Leoben, he added. - "I can see why you like her."

- "Yeah? I hope he likes the taste of my boot in his face!" - Kara replied, and struggling with the centurion again, she shouted - "Let me go!"

- "Enough!" - a booming voice echoed in the hangar.

Kara turned to find, in shock, another Leoben, dressed in Colonial uniform. But he was different from the Leoben that was with Simon, and the Leoben that she had interrogated. His hair was not spiked and unruly, but well combed and he had a fine mustache with goatee. **Lieutenant Leoben "Kane"** passed the officers, some of them saluting him, and he looked at Kara, and at the Centurion:

- "Its ok, let her go." - Kane said.

The Centurion promptly obeyed, releasing Thrace, and she kept looking at him...

- "Please, Captain Thrace, stay put." - He said.

- "Nice mustache, Brother." - Leoben said, earning a glare from the Lieutenant - "And nice entrance too. It impressed the lady."

Kane turned fully to the three Cylons, and said:

- "The Commander was informed of your unannounced arrival." - Kane informed - "He will be here shortly."

- "Good. In the meantime we can catch up with my dear friend." - Leoben replied, looking at Kara.

Before Starbuck could retort, Kane stepped in front of her, facing his twin, and marched straight to him, grabbing him by his collar and pulled him face to face:

- "You try to approach Kara Thrace one more time, and I will personally throw you out the airlock, am I clear?" - Kane spoke, with a harsh tone.

Lioben smiled clinically, and under the auspices of his two companions, and said:

- "Crystal." - Leoben said, fixing his collar as his Twin released him.

The Lieutenant stepped back, watching warily the three representatives of the Unity, when the Number One turned his attention to the new observers on the upper platform:

- "Ah, Commander Warryk, Always so solicitous!" - The One said - "Thank you for see us with such short notice."

On the Platform, Kara saw The Admiral, President Roslin, Colonel Tigh, Lee, Hoshi and Gaeta along with the _Pacifica'_s CO and XO.

- "Mr. Cavil." - Warryk acknowledged - "Did you lose your will to live, being here, with the _Plagued_?"

Cavil smiled politely, and opening his arms theatrically, he said:

- "They're not plagued, Commander. You saved them. You cured them." - Cavil replied, and with a smirk, he added - "For that, you have the gratitude of all Cylons."

Warryk ignored the glances from his Colonial guests, and ignoring the veiled provocation from the Cylon leader, he went straight to the point:

- "What are you doing here, Cavil?" - Jann asked.

- "Well, Commander, I come here to discuss a matter of utmost importance." - Cavil replied.

Jann looked at Leela and at Adama and Roslin, and turned again:

- "Then speak, and be brief. I'm busy." - Warryk replied.

Cavil gave a step ahead, and uniting his hands, he said:

- "Well, Commander, its a sensitive matter, that would be better be discussed away from strangers." - Cavil said, pointedly looking at the _Galactica_'s and _Pegasus _officers and the President.

- "They're not strangers, Mr. Cavil, That's the President of the Colonies and the Admiral of the Fleet." - Warryk replied, and added a warning. - "Be mindful of that and be respectful."

The Cylon just smiled at that.

- "Lieutenant Kane, Centurion Aton, escort these gentleman to the Briefing room." - Warryk said.

The two Cylons saluted the CO and moved with the marines, escorting the three Cylons out of the Hangar. Warryk turned to Leela and said:

- "Deploy the Scouts. If they are here, their basestars are close." - Warryk said, and turning to the others, he said - "Admiral, Sir, I'd recommend at this time that you order your fleet to standby for a Jump."

- "Do you have a habit of receiving enemies Cylons in your ship, Commander?" - Adama asked, severe.

- "No Sir. We had standoffs in the past that were solved without fight, but they had always been afraid of getting too close." - The Commander replied - "They were afraid of the plague, but now, to be here, at this time, that means only one thing."

- "What?" - Adama asked.

- "They are terrified. Terrified of you." - Warryk elaborated.

Bill looked at the young Commander, and back to to Laura, Lee and Saul, that were as puzzled and surprised as he was...

**End of Act**


	4. Act IV: Lies and Misdirections

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, Post "Razor", Pre "Downloaded".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act IV – Lies and Misdirections**

[Day 251 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.125 Humans, 724 Cylons]

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

[Pilots Rec Room – Emptied]

- "Of all the stupid decisions I have ever heard in my life, Yours top, Kid.. " - Colonel **Saul Tigh **exclaimed. - "You threw away our key to destroying the Cylons once for all!"

**Bill Adama** observed in silence the outburst of his XO, seated in one of the chairs of the room that had been emptied for them to use, since it was closer to the Briefing room where the Cylons were awaiting for them. Besides him, **Laura Roslin** took of her glasses, and touched his shoulder:

- "Do you think he's lying?" - Laura asked, in a whisper.

- "I don't know, but I will find out later." - Bill replied discreetly

He looked up, as the _Pacifica_'s CO gave his reply:

- "I'm sorry if I don't intend to be accessory to Genocide, Colonel, but my decision was made, and the order, carried out long before we got here." - Commander **Jann Warryk** said.

- "You would have to keep samples at least, in case some of them fell ill again." - **Felix Gaeta** said - "No responsible doctor would treat an disease and not keep samples of the virus or the vaccine."

- "Once the ill were treated and cured, they acquired natural immunity." - **Leela Six** explained - "We didn't have a need for the virus or vaccine, other than to create a biological weapon."

- "And that's why I ordered the destruction of all samples." - Warryk repeated.

- "Unbelievable!" - Tigh said, throwing his hands in the air and turning away from Jann and Leela.

The looks on the faces of **Kara Thrace**, **Louanne "Kat" Katraine** and **Lee Adama** had a similar disappointment and disbelief after they had just heard that the first real weapons they could use to end the Cylons had been destroyed.

- "What is done is done." - Adama said, rising from his chair. - "There is no point in continue arguing about that."

Saul stopped, and looked at his old friend, waiting for the old man to continue:

- "What do you think those three want?" - Adama asked, looking at Warryk

- "Delay us." - Warryk replied in a heartbeat. - "Whatever else that comes out of Cavil, are half-truths and misdirections."

- "So, what will we do, then?" - Lee asked, looking at his father, as the door opened.

At that moment, **Kane Two** walked into the room. He quickly saluted, and was saluted back by Warryk, and then, in a uncharacteristic display of excitement, he said:

-"Guys, you wont believe this..." - Kane said, with a smile.

Adama watched with curiosity as the Cylon Lieutenant closed the hatch behind him and went on to relay the new developments, some _very interesting_ new developments.

[Briefing Room – 30 Minutes later]

**Cavil** was known for being patient in his schemes, but the humans were trying him today, in some pathetic attempt to intimidate and make them feel nervous. But he had time. He was immortal, what was more than he could say for humanity.

Immediately after learning of the appearance of the _Pacifica_, he ordered the other Cylons living in secrecy in the fleet to airlock themselves and get back to the Resurrection Ship. Then, he gathered with the other Cylons that where on the Pursuit Basestars, and got into a transport directly to _Pacifica_. He tried to get Fours and Fives with him, but the Sixes, Eights, Threes and Twos appointed a Two to go with him in the place of a Five, and now. Cavil hadn't liked that, at all, and that's why he made clear who was in charge from the moment they got into the vessel.

Still, as soon as his stupid brother laid eyes on the loudmouthed human pilot, he put himself in a bad situation. It was disgusting to see the _Plagued_ wearing the Colonial Uniform, and revolting to see Kane Two defending someone who had nothing but hatred for the Cylons, taking sides against one of his own model. But even that was fortuitous, as it gave Cavil the excuse to make sure to the Two that he should keep his mouth shut. He didn't have to worry about the Four, though, as he was a loyal associate, and most importantly, knew his place.

That the humans had survived their attack was bad, but that clearly the _Pacifica_'s fleet was well prepared, and possibly expecting the attack on the Colonies, was down right alarming. Once he was Downloaded onto the Resurrection Ship and learned from the Datastream what the humans of that ship had done, and how they had managed to not only to outsmart and put the Cylons on the run, but ultimately how they had turned their own against them, Cavil knew that something had to be done. He was there to lie, to bribe, to sell the _Plagued_ a false illusion of hope. It didn't matter that the disease had been treated and cured. They were now afflicted with something ten times worse than the original infection: They had mixed with and accepted the weak, decadent and flawed race that was humanity.

And their equivocated ideas were already causing trouble around the Unity. Talks of peace with the humans, and even condemnation of his master plan: all the more reasons why the _Plagued_ and the damned humans that protected them should be eradicated... The Fives should arrive in a Basestar of loyal Cylons there within the hour.

Cavil was brought back from his musings as the Hatch door opened, revealing their _gracious hosts_. He looked at Admiral Adama and President Roslin, the two older, arrogant leaders of what was left of humanity, and saw Colonel Tigh, from who he would expect, when humanity was finally purged, a apology and the acknowledgment that the Creation, and not the Creator, was right, after all.

Cavil also saw Commander Adama, the son, pathetic and flawed as his father, trying to appear so dignified in that uniform. He saw also the Two's pet human, that Leoben kept saying it had a _special destiny_, her fellow pilot, and the two other insignificant lieutenants that followed them. His eyes showed visible disdain as the traitorous Leela Six of _Pacifica_ entered the room, followed by her fellow traitor, Kane Two, and finally, the young Commander of the _Pacifica_, the idealistic fool that usurped his brothers and sisters, and turned them against their own and was right now second only to Adama on his list of threats to be dealt with. Too bad he couldn't sneak in a gun to this meeting, or he could have taken most of his top ten list with one clip.

The hatch door was closed again, and the Admiral spoke:

- "We're here. We're listening." - Adama said, and in the same harsh tone he ordered - "Talk."

Cavil smiled sarcastically. The human arrogance permeated the air.

- "Actually, _Admiral_" - Cavil spoke, pointedly at Adama - "I'm not here to speak with you. I'm here to talk with the Commander."

Breaking his authority by relinquishing him to a secondary role in that conversation. The indignant look on the Admiral's face had just made that trip worthwhile.

- "Whatever you have to discuss with me, Mr. Cavil, you can say in front of my superiors." - Warryk replied.

- "But, of course." - Cavil replied, with the same smugness

Foolish and idealistic, following protocols of a defunct society when he held more power on his hands than the Admiral he so venerability deferred to.

- "I bring good news, Commander." - Cavil said approaching the man.- "I wasn't kidding when I said that you have the gratitude of my people. Because of your gesture, because of your _act of love_ and your dedication in saving, nurturing and protecting the Cylons on your ship, you have proven your worthiness."

The Cylon leader put his hands on both of Warryk's arms, smiling broadly to him, keenly aware of the raging look on the faces of Adama's officers. The Commander was also aware, as he averted his look from his superior with guilty eyes. Distrust and resentment had been planted.

Jann gently, but firmly extricated himself from the middle-aged Cylon's hands, as Cavil continued:

- "I come here with an offer of peace!" - He said, with theatrical enthusiasm.

- "Peace? After destroying our worlds and killing innocent people, you come talk of _peace_?" - Tigh blasted out, furious.

Hatred and revolt were visible in their eyes. Cavil was gleaming inside with the reactions from their enemies. Foolish, irrational humans...

- "And this is the kind of talk and attitude that caused all this tragedy." - Cavil said, pointing at the Colonel, with an accusatory tone. - "Everything could have been avoided if humanity had not pursued its policy of aggression and prejudice."

- "Aggression? It had been forty years since we last had any kind of contact with the Cylons!" - Lee Adama spoke, livid. - "You were the ones who attacked us unprovoked! You are the aggressors, not us!"

- "All the illegal incursions of your Military ships into our territory in the years following the armistice are prove more than enough of Humanity's guilt." - **Simon** retorted, with a calm and collected voice.

- "Incursions? Guilty?" - Laura asked, severe and added- "There are no fools here, sir. We know very well that there were no incursions. This was an unprovoked, sadistic, genocidal attack by... _things_ like you."

- "And what do you call your _skinjobs_ posing as humans in our midst, huh?" - Kara shot back, with anger and sarcasm. - "And Boomer, that shot the Admiral? What was she? Another one of your _Peace envoy_?"

- "Thought your sins, your lack of compassion, the blood you shed in all of your history, your worship of false Gods, humanity was condemned by God." - **Leoben** said.

- "Frak you and your God!" - Kat yelled - "You're nothing but damn machines with bad programming!"

- "We evolved, we advanced ourselves, what is more than I can say for the flawed, corrupted society that you represent." - Simon replied.

Kat tried to jump at the Four, being held by Hoshi and Gaeta, and immediately Adama moved in:

- "Stand down, pilot!" - Adama ordered, and as she was still struggling against the two officers, he repeated the order - "I said STAND DOWN!"

That calmed Louanne, as she stopped trying to free herself. The Admiral looked at Warryk with contempt, and then to Cavil, and said:

- "Make your offer, before I change my mind." - Adama said, with disgust.

- "Thank you, Admiral." - Cavil replied, polite.

He turned to Warryk once more. His plan was going on like notes on a fine tuned instrument, and now, it was time for the _coup de grace_...

- "We feel that is time to bring home our stranded brothers and sisters." - Cavil said, looking at Kane and them at Leela - "You have been away from your family too long."

- "Y-you mean that we can go back?" - Leela asked, in disbelief.

- "Yes, my dear. You can come back." - Cavil said - "And our Unity can be be perfect again."

- "And what about the humans?" - Kane asked, less enthusiastic.

Ungrateful traitor. Cavil was going to have him killed first. Then this foolish bitch would be next...

- "They are free to keep their path, with our blessings." - Cavil replied.

- "And what of the people left in Caprica?" - Kara asked, immediately.

- "We will arrange for them to join you, of course." - Simon replied. - "We have no desire to keep any human in our midst."

Adama looked at Roslin, and at Lee, and back to Cavil. They were falling for it...

- "We need time, to convey and consider your offer" - Adama said.

- "But of course..." - Cavil replied. - "How long do you need?"

- "A few hours..." - Roslin said - "To reunite the Quorum and get a vote."

- "Sounds good." - Leoben said, looking at the other two envoys.

Easy... too easy...

- "Fifteen Minutes." - Leela said..

Frakk.

- "What?" - Roslin asked, confused.

- "Fifteen minutes to decide." - Leela said with a predatory smile, and turning to Leoben, she added - "Isn't that how long it will take before your basestar gets here and wipe us all out?"

- "Basestar?" - Leoben asked, confused - "What?"

- "Frakking Liar." - Leela said, drawing her pistol, and shooting Two.

Immediately, Simon sprung into action, jumping at Warryk, grabbing him by his jacket and raising him high, just to throw him on top of the table, with such violence that the table collapsed with the Commander on top of it.

Kane was on to the Four in the same second, grabbing him by the head and turning it violently, the sound of the Cylon's neck breaking. Cavil tried to get to Adama in a fluid movement, as the Admiral stepped back, bumping into his XO, but the Cylon received a bullet in his leg for his trouble, courtesy of Leela Six. He fell on his knees, barely holding on to a chair, when she approached him, with a murderous expression on her face, and her gun aimed at him, the barrel still smoking...

- "You're making a mistake." - Cavil said to the Six.

- "No, I'm correcting one."- She said, as she pressed the trigger.

With Cavil dead, she looked around, in time to see Kane take out his weapon and shoot two bullets on Simon's head. She saw Adama recomposing himself, and the others, that were humanly slow to drawn their guns, with them out, but no target, and then she saw the Commander down.

- "Jann!" - Leela said, putting her gun back in the holster and running to him.

Kane ignored them, rushing to the third envoy down, with the help of Kat and Kara. Adama, Roslin and Tigh got closer as the Blonde Captain helped her boss to sit up.

- "Ugh... why they had to bring the big black guy?" - Warryk said, every muscle in his body aching.

- "Are you okay, Kid?" - Tigh asked.

- "I will survive..." - Warryk replied, holding on to Leela to get up - "Ow, ow ow, Slowly!"

- "Sorry!" - She apologized.

From the other side of the room, the Two envoy spoke:

- "Try getting shot, then you can whine about it." - Leoben said, holding his wounded shoulder, being supported by Kane and Kara. - "We don't have much time."

Adama then turned to the surviving Cylon, and said:

- "Is the offer authentic, Mr. Leoben?" - Adama asked.

- "Yes, it is, Admiral." - Leoben replied. - "I'm sorry for the theatrics and the ruse, but it was necessary, given the circumstances."

Leela, with Warryk using her for support, apologized:

- "Sorry, I tried to shoot just the fabric." - She said.

- "That's alright. I've gotten worse." - Leoben said, approaching the control panel. - "Are you ready for the transference?"

- "Yes." - Warryk said, taking a pen drive from his pocket and placing in the open port besides the Cylon Datastream device.

Leoben touch the liquid, and on the screens, a myriad of symbols flowed in a burst, as the liquid emitted a glow.

- "Cavil wasn't lying completely." - Leoben said to Warryk - "You do have our gratitude, not of all of us, and certainly not his, but some of us."

- "I did what I did because it was the right thing to do." - Warryk replied.

- "Nevertheless, you did, and that's what matters. It changed things." - Leoben said.

The liquid stopped glowing, and he took his hand back. He looked at Adama, and said

- "Its done. Now, I must go, their uploading into new copies were lagged by some subroutines, but I cant risk much more." - Two said.

Leoben extended his hand to Adama, that took just a moment, and accepted the gesture:

- "Good luck, Admiral. I will contact you back as soon as its safe." - Leoben said.

- "Good luck to you to, Mr. Leoben." -Adama replied.

- "Call me **Drake**." - He replied.

Adama nodded, and Drake Two turned to Jann and Leela, saying:

- "The Starbase should be here shortly. They were not under the authority of the Cylon Unity so, there is no harm in destroying it." - Drake said. - "If you're lucky, this Cavil should be there."

Jann nodded, and then Kane, drawing his gun, aimed at his twin:

- "May God smile upon you, Brother." - Drake said.

- "Same to you." - Kane replied, as he pulled the trigger.

**End of Act**


	5. Act V: Fight and Jump

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

Jr Lieutenant Bask Tallas (Ops)

Ensign Kim Hikari (Comm)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, Post "Razor", Pre "Downloaded".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act V – Fight and Jump**

[Day 251 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.125 Humans, 724 Cylons]

[Fleet Space]

As of five minutes ago, communication was running amok throughout the fleet. As the Captains of the Civilians ships around _Galactica_ noticed the civilian traffic around _Pacifica_ being recalled, and the ships getting their FTL drives online, they acted, even before the proper order came...

-==_Galactica, this is the Admiral. Set Condition One throughout the Fleet. Ready civilians ship for emergency jump!==- _Was the order received over the wireless by the CIC. - ==_Send the Jump Coordinates to Pacifica Nav!==_

-==_Commander Adama to Pegasus, Set Condition One. Deploy alert Vipers and ready main artillery batteries!==- _In the same fashion, that had been the order to Pegasus.

On both ships, the crews rushed to their stations, as the DRADIS showed two raptors, escorted by Vipers, rushing from _Pacifica_ back to the other two Battlestars.

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

[CIC]

The CIC was in adrenaline mode. Stations reported ready statuses as soon as they received, and

**Jr Lieutenant Bask Tallas** was doing his best to fill up the roles of CO and XO as they were not there yet.

- "Miss Hikari, get Tau, Mu and Zeta Wings out A.S.A.P.!" - Tallas shouted, and turning over to gun controls he added - "Ensign, get the main batteries online!"

- "Aye Aye Sir!" - **Kim Hikari**, the ensign in charge of the Comm Station replied, and them passed the orders - "Tau, Mu and Zeta pilots, to your fighters. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill."

As the glass doors to the CIC opened,Lieutenant **Kane Two** and Captain **Leela Six** entered the CIC helping a obviously bruised Commander **Jann Warryk**, that looked like he had kissed the express train.

- "What the Hell?" - Bask said, as he saw the state of his CO.

- "Later, Mr. Tallas." - Jann said, letting go of Kane and holding himself to the Command and Control station in the center of the deck. - "Give me a SitRep."

- "The Admiral's Raptor is on his way to _Galactica,_ and he already gave the order for an Emergency Jump. Commander's Adama Raptor is entering the _Pegasus_ hangar now, and they are deploying their alert Vipers."

- "ETA for Basestar, Mr. Kane?" - Warryk asked.

- "One Minute, Thirteen Seconds." - Kane replied, looking at his Chrono.

- "Did you receive the Jump Coordinates?" - Jann asked.

- "Yes Sir!" - The lieutenant replied - "I'm passing on to the fleet right now."

The Commander looked at Leela, and that still had a worried look on her, but he grabbed her hand, giving it a comfort squeeze before saying:

- "Have the Raptors arm their RFDs" - Warryk said.

Leela looked at him, keenly aware of what the order meant, and she picked up the comm, to pass on the order...

- "All ships report ready for jump, Sir!" - Hikari informed, from her station.

- "Excellent, Miss Hikari. Pass that to _Galactica_. Tell them that we're ready when they're ready." - Warryk said.

- "Sir, Gunships _Cancer_ and _Aries_ are requesting instructions!" - Tallas said.

Leela gave a quick glance to Jann, and as he didn't point anything different again, she gave the orders:

- "Have them cover the fleet jumps, them, jump themselves after them." - the Captain ordered.

- "Aye Aye, Sir!" - Bask replied, before relaying the orders.

As the blip on Kane's chrono went out, he, Leela and Jann looked at each other, and then at the DRADIS monitor.

- "They're here." - Leela said, in a murmur, as the klaxon sounded on the CIC...

[BSG62 – Pegasus]

**Lee "Apollo" Adama** had literally jumped out of the Raptor even before it came to a full stop in the hangar. He had opened the hatch, and moved quickly.

- "Frakk, Lee, wait!" - **Kara "Starbuck" Thrace** yelled as she brought the vessel to a stop.

Lee didn't stop moving, turning around and walking backwards as he shouted:

- "Get to your Viper and get out there, Starbuck!" - He said, and turning around, went on a full sprint.

Inside the Raptor, under the curious glance of **Louis Hoshi**, Kara said, in a cynical voice:

- "Okay, boss..." - she said, looking at Hoshi, turning her eyes in clear criticism of the Commander's attitude.

- "Thank you for the trip, Captain." Hoshi said, getting out of the ship.

- "You're welcome, Hoshi. Now, get back to CIC, or grab a helmet and a Viper." - Starbuck said, as she unbuckled her seat belt.

Hoshi just smiled, and walked fast back to CIC. Kara grabbed her helmet, and jumped out of the Raptor, looking at **Peter Laird**, Hangar Chief of _Pegasus_, and said, with her crazy smile:

- "She's all your's, Chief!" - Kara said, as she herself sprinted across the hangar to her Viper..

[Cylon Basestar]

On the Basestar central Node, **Number** **Fives **were controlling the datastream when **Cavil** showed up, **Simon ** just behind him, and trying to ignore the tantrum burst of the One...

- "I'm gonna kill that bitch over and over again, in very painful ways, mark my words!" - Cavil exclaimed, stopping abruptly and turning to Simon for emphasis - "Mark my words!"

Number Four knew better than reply, but the Fives all looked at the Tempestuous One, that was, until he turned to them, with a glace that clearly represented danger to anyone that didn't mind their own business immediately. One of the Fives didn't look away, reporting:

- "Jump was successful. Raiders are being deployed and we have _Galactica _right on our range." - The Five said.

- "Frakk _Galactica_! Its _Pacifica_ that I want!" - Cavil replied, marching to the console and putting his hand on the Datastream.

The Fives looked at Number Four, confused, and Simon gave a brief nod in negative, a silent warning that the moment was not appropriated to ask questions. Number One was on the warpath, and he knew better than to stand on his way.

- "Did you load the warheads as I told you?" - Number One asked.

- "Fifty of them, that's what I could gather without raising suspicion in the time given" - Number Five replied.

- "That will be enough." - Cavil replied. - "Arm all of them."

One of the other Fives looked confused, and said:

- "We don't have enough missiles to launch all of them." - He informed.

- "And who said we're going to launch anything?" - Cavil asked, with a cold fury in his eyes.

[BSG75 – Galactica]

- "SitRep, Mr. Agathon!" - These were the first words **Admiral Bill Adama** spoke as he entered the CIC.

- "Sir, Hangar reports all Vipers out! Nav reports three quarters of the Fleet ready for jump." - Lieutenant **Karl Agathon** replied.

- "Give the order to jump to the ships that are ready" - Adama replied, as he took his position.

Besides Adama, Colonel Tigh took his usual place, and **Laura Roslin**, being with them, kept herself at the edge of the CnC Console. **Felix Gaeta** rushed to his Station, relieving the ensign that was there.

- "We have inbound Raiders." - Saul informed.

- "Tell our gunners to cover the Fleet and send Vipers to intercept." - Adama replied, and then, he looked at the DRADIS - "What the heck are they doing?"

[BSG62 – Pegasus]

- "Commander, the Basestar is moving to intercept the _Pacifica_'s Fleet." - Hoshi informed. - "Only the Raiders are targeting our Fleet. The Basestar is completely ignoring us!"

Lee Adama looked at the DRADIS information, and said:

- "I don't like this." - Lee said, and looking away from the screen, he ordered - "Nav, get us into firing range! Lock main batteries on the Basestar."

Over the comm, Starbuck's voice was heard:

-==_Starbuck to Pegasus. Should we engage the Basestar?_== - She asked

- "Negative. Cover the Fleet, Captain. _Pegasus_ is going to render assistance to _Pacifica_." - Lee replied.

- "_Galactica_ on Channel One! It's the Admiral." - The Comm officer informed.

Lee grabbed the handset from his console, and answered:

- "This is _Pegasus_ Actual." - Lee said.

- ==The Cylon target is _Pacifica_.== - Adama said.

- "I've noticed. I ordered the Vipers to help _Galactica_ protect the Fleet and deal with the Raiders as we attack the Basestar." - Lee replied.

Another Klaxon blasted out of the speakers and Hoshi looked at his CO:

- "Radiological alarm! They armed their Nukes!" - Hoshi said.

Lee looked alarmed at his XO, then to the DRADIS console...

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

- "The readings are out of the scales, Commander!" - Lieutenant Tallas informed.

- "That's is way beyond the normal load for a Basestar." - Kane Two replied, looking at the readings. - "This follows no ordinary pattern of attack."

Warryk looked at the DRADIS reading and looked at his XO:

- "Order the Fleet to jump!" - Warryk said, and turning to Tallas, he added - "Order the Gunships to fire all batteries on the Basestar!"

As Leela gave the orders through the comm, he turned to Kane:

- "They don't want to fire at us. They want to blow themselves up right next to us!" - Jann said, in dark realization - "Order the Raptors to fire the Mag-bombs!"

[BSG75 – Galactica]

- "Admiral, we're getting strange readings from _Pacifica's _Raptors!" - Gaeta said.

- "They're firing." - Tight said, looking at the DRADIS.

[Fleet Space]

Halfway between _Pacifica _and the Basestar, Zeta Wing, aided by Vipers from Tau Wing, opened fire against the enemy. About Zeta-1, _Pacifica's _CAG, Captain **Kaleb Blackthorne** contacted the pilots:

- "Packages away, all fighters, Scram!" - Blackthorne shouted - "Sixes, Eights and Raiders, Get out of range!"

The Basestar point defense cannons fired against the missiles fired by the raptors, getting most of them, but even those, when destroyed, exploded, causing a strange blue explosion, that wasn't really destructive, even when the projectiles hit the Basestar directly.

[BSG62 – Pegasus]

- "What the Frakk was that?" - Lee asked.

- "I don't know, Commander, but didn't look like it did any damage at all." - Hoshi replied. - "Basestar is firing."

- "Are we in range yet?" - Lee asked.

- "30 seconds, Commander!" - Nav replied

[Basestar]

The Ones, Fives and Fours looked confused at each other, as their connection to the Datastream was severed...

- "What was that?" - a Number Five asked.

- "Some sort of Radiological Bomb, I think.." - Number Four said.

One of the Fours put his hand on the console again, and not obtaining the desired result, he took it of and put it again...

- "My link is acting faulty." - Four replied. - "I can't get a proper reading on our gunners"

- "Same here. Navigation is giving me double readings..." - A Five replied.

Cavil looked with alarm to him, and himself put his hand in the liquid, trying to feel the connection. It was blurry, garbled, and he could not sense anything beyond the ship, raiders, other basestars, the other Ones, the Resurrection Ship... '_The Resurrection Ship!'_

- "Evacuate the Ship, NOW! NOW!" - He said, in panic.

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

- "_Pegasus_ is firing at the Basestar." - Leela Six informed.

- "They are still coming at us. Weapons Range in 2 minutes." - Tallas spoke

Warryk looked at the DRADIS screen, analyzing the situation, when Hikari spoke:

- "_Galactica Actual_ on the line, Sir." - The Ensign reported.

The Commander grabbed the handset immediately:

- "Warryk here." - He spoke

-==_Commander, what did you fire at the Cylons? Our DRADIS is showing all kind of double readings.==_ Admiral Adama asked.

- "Sir, its something that the R&D people develop not too long ago." - Warryk said. - "Your DRADIS have to be calibrate to compensate."

- "Oh, God... Massive traffic out of the Basestar!" - Leela Six exclaimed, and turning to Jann, she said - "They're abandoning ship!"

Warryk lowered the handset, ignoring the Admiral's voice, as he looked at his DRADIS...

- "They figured it out before I expected..." - He said, and with the radiological alarm still on, he got back to the handset - "Admiral, did your fleet jump?"

-==_Yes, they did, now answ..._==- Adama spoke, to be cut out by the Commander.

- "Sir, then recall your fighters and get the Frakk out of here right now." - Warryk said, with a tone that denoted urgency.

-==_What is going on, Commander., and why I'm getting multiple bogeys blinking... Oh, Hell!_==- Adama spoke, realizing himself what was going on. -==_Colonel, tell our birds to get back home right now!_==-

Warryk covered the speaker with his hand and said to Leela:

- "Get all fighters back and contact _Pegasus_. Tell them to get away , get their pilots and Jump the Frakk away from here." - Warryk ordered.

- "I'm already doing that" - Leela said, herself with a headset held between her head and shoulder, as she uses the two hands to type on the console.

-==_Commander, order your birds to get to the closest hangar available, and jump right away!_== - Adama ordered.

- "Aye aye, sir!" - Warryk replied, hanging up the comm after he heard the ending tone on the call.

[Fleet Space]

In her Viper, Starbuck had just heard the general evacuation order, that came at the time when she was in pursuit of the now fleeing raiders, that were protecting the bigger raiders that had left the Basestar.

-"Ok, you've heard the Command. Everyone, get to the nearest landing bay, and lets get out of here." - Starbuck ordered.

-== _Kat to Galactica wing, Let's go home, boys and girls._==- She heard Kat saying over the Wireless

-==_Black-1 to Pacifica group, Return to ship, I repeat, return to ship!_==- Kara also heard _Pacifica's_ CAG voice over and orders.

All over, Vipers and Raptors moved fast, performing emergency landings on the three Battlestars, as their commanders observed the DRADIS above their consoles. As the Basestar got in firing range of _Pacifica_, the ship opened fire, in a effort to slow down the enemy ship as the last fighters landed...

_Galactica _retracted its landing the Landing Deck as it prepared to jump, and _Pegasus_ also kept firing at the Basestar, even after their last Viper got back. When the last Viper landed on _Pacifica_, Lee gave the order to Jump, followed immediately by Warryk.

_Pegasus _and _Pacifica _jumped away with seconds to spare before the Basestar exploded.

[Heavy Raider]

As the Raider jumped into Cylon space, Cavil saw through the console the Cylon fleet stationed in space around The Colony, after the pursuit of the Human Fleet was halted. But he hadn't given up. On the contrary. He was more determined than ever to eradicate Humanity once for all.

Today the Humans had won a battle, and he had lost a Basestar. But it didn't matter. He could build more, and he could make more centurions and more copies. And now he knew what the _Plagued_ and their Human protectors had used against Basestar-12. They had developed a weapon that could sever the connection of a Cylon with the Datastream and the Resurrection Ship. Surely, a form of revenge, for the way the _Plagued_ had their own connections severed from the Unity. But it would be for no avail. In the end they would not prevail, and in the end, His _Creators_ would see the error of their ways.

For now, he would go back to the Colony, and plan the next steps on The Plan...

**End of Chapter**


	6. Act VI: Degrees of Separation I

**Author Notes:**

Greetings, everyone, and thanks for the reviews.

I have been having a burst of imagination (aided by the fact that I have the Complete series my Netflix Streaming and pretty much watch it over and over again),and the results are the quickest Fanfiction that I've ever wrote. 7 chapters in 4 days, WOW! Not even when I write in Portuguese (my native language), I get that much done so quickly.

Well, anyway, I will take this time to answer a few of the questions that I saw on the Reviews, and also say that a complete list of ships in the _Pacifica_ Fleet and the people worth mentioning on is already done, and I will put it as an annex after the next chapter (or maybe, the chapter after that).

**WHCnelson**: I also thought that humans were resilient enough to survive in more than one fleet;

**Darkfinder:** I know that BSG is pretty much a series with dark and complexes themes, but I thought I could put some humor without killing the mood. and about acceptance and lack of suspition ... well, read the chapter.

**EvilTheLast:** This chapter answers your first question, and the next chapter will answer your second question.

**The Breeze: **Thank you for the 1st Review =D

**Just a Crazy-Man:** For now, I pretty much have the handle for it, but, i'm always accepting suggestions. As Grand Admiral Thrawn said: "_I have no qualms about accepting a useful idea merely because it wasn't my own._"

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, Post "Razor", Pre "Downloaded".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act VI – Degrees of Separation I**

[Day 253 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.115 Humans, 735 Cylons]

[Over the Wireless]

_Announcer:_

_-== And now, we're back to Politics on your Wireless. Its time for the COLONIAL GANG! ==-_

_-== The only show where you can hear the only legitimate journalists left in the universe! ==-_

_-== And now, Live from Cloud Nine, James McManus, Playa Palacios and Sekou Hamilton! ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Good Day, All the people of the Twelve Colonies. Good Day, Playa! ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Good Day James, and Good Day, listeners! And what a what a Day, Right, Sekou? ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Absolutely, Playa. Today we have the second day of the Special Session of the Quorum of Twelve to debate and approve or reject the official petition of Integration of what has become known as the Second Fleet. Commander Jannus Warryk and a group of Representatives of the Fleet Assemby of the Second Fleet are here again today to testify and plead their case. ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== I've heard other names to Pacifica's Fleet, not as 'flattering' as Second Fleet, but a lot funnier: Cylon Lovers, Toaster Huggers, Chrome Polishers...==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Please, we don't even know all the facts, and as you know, a lot of it is still classified material per order of The Military Command. He have to wait until we get all the facts before we talk. ==-_

_McManus: _

_-== What facts more do you want? This Kid Warryk put a Toaster Bimbo as his Second in Command! He's obviously unqualified, inexperienced, naive and can't tell the difference between a great pair of real legs from a pair of fake, toaster legs. ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Oh, so you noticed Capitan's Leela Six legs yesterday... ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Yes, I've noticed, but just out of curiosity. They might look good, but its all plastic, metal and synthetic skin there. No real substance. ==- _

_Palacios:_

_-== I don't know if I put this comment of yours under machismo or under racial prejudice or both ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== You put that wherever you want, Darling. I know where I won't be putting my hands, that's for sure..==-_

_Hamilton_

_-==Huh, guys, how about get back to the Fleet and leave the Cylon pair of legs alone?==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Ok, I will say this: Commander Warryk managed to keep his fleet alive, their citizens obviously support him, and he actually succeed where Galactica failed. He didn't leave anyone behind. Just because their ship didn't have an FTL drive. ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== I agree with Playa on this one. We know some of those ships. They were there with us when we first assembled the Fleet, and we abandoned them. ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== It was the survival of the species! And we don't know if it was him who saved them! It is on the press release that Admiral Finley was in Command of Pacifica, and pretty much this Kid, who is obviously smart enough to take advantage of an opportunity, tied himself to a rocket and flew straight up that career ladder taking the Command of a Battlestar. ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Yes, but he could have done the same as Admiral Cain did, an left the civilian ships for dead. But not only he didn't do this, he also saved the Fleet that Cain left for dead. You can't ignore the facts! ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Yeah, Ok, so he saved these people. Then, he went and rescued 700 toasters, nursed them back to health and made them part of his fleet! Good Job,Son! What will be next? Apologize for our ships and our planets being in the path of their Nuclear Missiles? ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Hey guys, hey guys! Did you hear how the presidential cabinet is calling Warryk? 'Toaster Fanboy'==-_

_McManus_

_-== Hahaha! Toaster Fanboy! Oh, that was priceless! And they say that government doesn't do anything for the people... They make us laugh!==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== This just demonstrates the unwillingness of the cabinet and distrust of Commander Warryk. Perhaps if he took from active duty all Cylons in his military, that would move President Roslin to give her support to the Integration ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Yeah! Take them out of active duty and put them all in the airlock! I volunteer to push the button. We can put some G-4 on them and we can have fireworks! ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== you just have to go to the radicalism, don't you? ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Oh, another thing; Vice President Baltar is going to meet with the rest of the Assembly on their Botanical Cruiser. Apparently, President Roslin had urgent cabinet matters to attend ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Baltar is going to see the some Toasters there, for sure. Did you know that they have three of them on their 'Assembly'? Well, if someone can communicate with Toasters in their onw language is Gaius Baltar. He is pretty much smarter than a computer. ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Specially a Cylon Computer ==-_

[BSG75 – Galactica]

[Admiral's Quarters]

In the privacy of his quarters, **Admiral Bill Adama** kept going on over the logs of _Pacifica's_ Commanding Officer. To say that Adama was troubled with the things he had read was an understatement. At times, he would be impressed by the young CO's actions and obvious idealism; sometimes he was disgusted and irritated at the way he put the Cylon population in his fleet, not as prisoners or restricted, but as regular civilians. But most of all, the sharp criticism of the Colonial Government and the _status quo_ in the colonies. It was obvious to Adama that Warryk had taken the opportunity presented by the fall of the Twelve Colonies to create a social experiment with the civilians he rescued.

He had preyed on their resentment of the Government and the Military for being lied to and abandoned (by Colonial One and the Fleet), being robbed, abused and killed (by the _Pegasus_) and being left for dead by both. He had thwarted a attempt to establish a Colonial Quorum following the model of the Quorum of Twelve, and established a Assembly of Representatives by ships, not based in nationality. He went as far as include Cylons representatives in this Assembly, the same way that he had accepted them into his crew.

But the worse of all to Bill Adama was the fact that he counted with the unwavering support of the Assembly and the Captains of the Fleet, as the several letters of commendation and praise from officers and civilians that were annexed to the logs showed. The Kid was dangerous, _really, really dangerous_, not only by his association with the Cylons, but specially because of the way he manipulated and influenced the three thousand souls under his command. He was a threat, as severe as the Cylons that were hunting them. And that brought to the seasoned Admiral the question: What to do with Jannus Warryk?

To try to remove him from command peacefully was not a choice, that was clear from the moment when he walked into _Pacifica's_ Hangar Deck. To remove him by force, it was a even less likely alternative. Like it or not, Even with _Pegasus_, he would still be outgunned. _Pacifica _had two gunships and a support frigate fully armed, and all the military vessels had weapons. That was a risk he wasn't willing to take... for now.

The only other option for Adama at the moment was to deny them to join the Fleet. Fortunately, that would be a job that the Quorum assembled in _Cloud Nine_ was more than willing to take. They had just to hear the words "Cylon" and "rights" uttered in the same sentence...

His musings were interrupted by a knock on the hatch door.

- "Come in." - Adama said.

The hatch wheel turned, and soon the door moved, revealing two marines escorting the Cylon known as **Leela Six**. Adama took of his glasses, glancing at the blonde in Colonial Uniform. She Saluted him, formally:

- "Captain." - Adama said, dryly - "I wasn't expecting you."

- "Admiral, Sir. I came do deliver the supply inventory that you requested, Sir." - Leela replied.

Adama looked at the two marines. They had their hands on their weapons, and they were looking expectantly at the him. He observed as the Cylon took of a binder from her suitcase, and raised, letting him have a full view of the front. Adama looked at one of the marines, and gave him a brief node. She approached the desk, offering the binder, as the Admiral took it.

- "Thank you, Captain." - Adama said, opening the binder, without looking at her.

He gave a few seconds, and noticed that she was still there, and without looking at her, he asked:

- "Is there anything else?" - The Admiral asked.

- "Yes, Sir." - Leela said.

Adama looked at her, his glance still severe, as she spoke:

- "I'm aware that you have a Number Eight detained aboard, Sir." - Leela said - "And that she's pregnant."

- "Yes, she is." - Adama replied.

- "I would like to request an audience with her, Sir." - Leela said.

The Admiral stared at Leela for a few seconds, and then responded:

- "Request denied." - Adama said.

Leela didn't reply. She saluted, and turned on he heels. leaving the room. As she left the room, The Admiral closed the binder, and threw on top of a pile of logs. He moved some papers, revealing a open log. He took a look at the marked page, where Warryk had spoken clearly about his XO's unrest with the lack of knowledge about the Number Eight health and the health of the baby she was carrying, to the extend that Warryk himself was getting fed up with her insistence and single mindedness.

Still, she had waited 48 hours before presenting her request. For a woman, even a Cylon, that was a lot of self control.

[Second Fleet – Botanical Cruiser ]

On the Second Official visit of the Colonial Government to the _Botanical Cruiser_, **Gaius Baltar**, in the role of Vice-President, was the head of the delegation, that counted with Quorum Representatives Burian and Wenutu. Their reception was a cold one, to put it mildly. Few times in his life, Gaius felt that much directed at him. '_No, not at him, at what he represented'_ A voice in the back of his mind.

- _#They are not happy to see you, Gaius#_ – Inner Six whispered in his ear.

- "That's because its not me they're seeing." - Gaius replied, in a low voice. - "They do not see Gaius Baltar. They see a lackey of Laura Roslin, the woman that betrayed and abandoned them."

- _#Perhaps she's more clever than you think.#_ - Inner Six said - _#Sending you, her political adversary to the wolves#_

As they passed trough the arches for the garden where the Assembly was gathered, he stopped and looked at the Imaginary Blonde, saying:

- "Well, she's bound to be disappointed then, because I'm about to turn the wolves against her." - Gaius replied, inclining his head slightly.

Inner Six gave a sexy smile at the dashing look Baltar gave her. She got even closer, until the voice of **Robin Wenutu** caught his attention:

- "Mr. Vice President?" - Ms. Wenutu called him.

Gaius quickly stoop up straight, fixing his tie and looking mildly flustered to the Canceron Representative:

- "Huh.. Y-yes?" - He asked, with wide eyes.

- "...Shall we go inside?" - Wenutu asked, with a strange look at him.

- "Oh, sure, sure, go ahead." - Gaius said, turning to the reflective marble of the arch, and pretend to be fixing his hair - "I will be inside in a moment."

Wenutu looked at her colleague, **Miksa Burian** of Aquarion, as he balanced his head in negative with a expression of mild amusement. She sighted, embarrassed by having witnessed one of Doctor Baltar's (in)famous moments of eccentricity. She knew that he was possibly the smartest man alive, and that someone with his genius would not behave or operate by normal standards, but to see a grown man talking to himself, was weird. She chose to ignore it and dismiss as a quirk of a Genius.

Gaius pretended to be compulsively fixing his hair, waiting for the two Quorum members to get ahead, and then turned to Inner Six again:

- "One of these days they gonna throw me into a padded room because of you." - Gaius said.

- _#Don't be so dramatic.# _- Inner Six replied, touching his hair with tenderness - _#They just look at you like the great man of intellect that you are, and know better than to try to understand your genius#_

Baltar looked at her with a flirty smile, and said:

- "I wonder what I would do without you around to boost my Ego." - Gaius spoke.

He looked at her, giving a playful slap on her posterior parts, as he walked:

- "I have work to do, my dear." - Gaius said - "Watch and learn."

Inner Six didn't reply, hiding her smile with her hand, as she was way to amused with his display of smugness.

[Colonial One – Office of the Presidency]

When the stewardess from Colonial One escorted him to the empty office of the President of the Colonies, **Jannus "Jann" Warryk** didn't expect the interior of the ship to look so... presidential. That was a _Eversun Luxury Liner_, he recognized the logo on the fuselage before he docked, but he was pretty sure that the Official Seal of the Colonies was not the standard adornment for the ship. Warryk inclined himself and touched the linen in the headrest , feeling the texture.

- "They feel nice, don't they?" - a feminine voice spoke behind him.

Warryk looked to his right and saw **Laura Roslin** looking at him from behind her desk. She was accompanied by a woman that Jann recognized as being **Tory Foster**, the Presidential Chief of Staff.

- "Yes they do." - Warryk replied, straightening himself, and then, saluting - "Madame President."

- "Please, have a seat, Commander." - Roslin said, pointing to one of the comfortable chairs. - "Have you met my Chief of Staff yet?"

Jann got up again, taking Foster's hand, and said:

- "Miss Foster. I saw you on the news, but didn't have the pleasure yet." - he replied.

- "Likewise, Commander." - Tory said.

He took the seat, as Roslin sat in her chair, and Forster, circling around the table, leaned against it, her tight supporting her frame against the wood, the skirt raising slightly up her leg. She gave a discreet smile. His reaction was recline a bit more into the chair, making himself comfortable.

- "Commander, the reason why I called you here was simple." - Roslin started - "You are an active part on the delegation from your fleet in the negotiations at the Quorum for the integration of the ships following _Pacifica_ into the Fleet under _Galactica's_ Leadership."

- "That is correct." - He replied.

Foster turned to get something on the table, and he could noticed how accentuated her curves were. A generous view of a beautiful body. He was enjoying himself almost too much...

- "Commander?" - Laura called him.

- "I'm sorry?" - He made a point of looking confused, even thought he knew perfectly what she had asked.

Laura Roslin smiled a gentle smile. He smiled a embarrassed one, as if she had caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.

- "What are your impressions on the Quorum receptivity to the Integration proposal?" - Roslin asked again.

- "My impressions?" - Jann repeated, running his finger along a beard that wasn't there. - "Well, Madam President... I recognize a lost battle when I see one."

- "You do?" - Roslin asked,slightly surprised

- "Yes, Madam President, I do. What bring us to you next question." - Warryk said - "What does the '_Toaster Fanboy'_ want? I believe that is the name I've heard over the wireless, right? "

To her merit, she didn't try to correct him, even though Tory looked a little too uncomfortable. Perhaps he had found the one who had given him the undignified nickname:

- "Well?" - Laura asked, with her _teacher posture_ - "What does he want?"

- "Now, Now, Madam President..." - Jann replied, with a smirk - "If I give you all the answers, that would be just too boring, and you would not invite me again to your office, and I would miss the wonderful view."

Laura gave a small laugh, and Tory, even tough was still a bit embarrassed, looked at him dissatisfied, to which he responded with a amused expression.

- "Well, I believe that you are trying to stir civil unrest." - Roslin replied - "I was already informed that the Cylon sympathizers on this Fleet already contacted you."

- "True. They contacted me." - Warryk confirmed. - "But, stir unrest? That sounds awfully subversive."

- "I'm working with what you're giving me, Commander." - The President replied. - "Perhaps, if you give a better insight..."

Jann, however, had his attention on Tory:

- "I'm sorry..." - He interrupted Roslin, turning right at Foster - "Did you come up with this? '_Toaster Fanboy_'?"

- "Commander..." - Laura tried to get his attention, and avoid a confrontation.

He, however, kept looking at Tory, that felt strange, as the newcomer was clearly intent on confront her, but she could not find a hint of anger or indignation in his eyes.

- "Yes, it was me." - She replied, trying her best to sound cold and collected.

- " '_Toaster Fanboy_'.. I like it! It has a nice ring to it!" - Warryk replied. - "Beauty and creativity. That is a rare combination, Miss Foster."

- "Commander, if we could get back to the topic..." - Roslin insisted.

- "Sure, Sure, Madam President..." - He replied, looking back at Laura, and then appearing to be in deep thought - "Ok, lets see...Subversion, civil unrest... humm... No. Not my goals."

- "Then what are your goals?" - The President asked, in a more severe tone.

Jann looked at her, the playfulness mostly gone, and said:

- "Right now, Madam President, trade." - He revealed.

- "Trade? Alright what specifically are we talking about here?" - Roslin asked.

- "We have two fleets, that won't integrate, but that will be pretty much a jump away from each other along the way." - Warryk said - "You Fleet has some deficiencies in resources that my Fleet has in excess, and in turn, We have some needs that this Fleet can cover."

- "So, we are talking about commerce, Trade agreement, then?" - Roslin asked.

- "Basically, but not limited to that only." - Warryk said - "We have ships that need to be refitted and upgraded, but our personnel is limited. We could certainly use some temporary workers to work on these refit operations."

President Roslin and Miss Foster listened to him as he started to list what was the basic guidelines for the exchange operations between _Galactica_'s Fleet and _Pacifica_'s Fleet. Roslin was objective and direct, as he expected her to be, and she agreed to some points and refuted immediately other suggestions. In the end, they both had agreed to each part draw a plan and bring forth to discussion before bringing it to the Quorum. Different from the Integration Proposal, Jann wanted this plan approved, and he would do it with the President's support.

[One Hour later]

Laura Roslin was in her office when Tory returned, after escorting Warryk on the shuttle to his ship. She went over the notes she wrote as he spoke. One of the things she had learned as a teacher was to write while looking at her students, a very useful skill also in politics. Commander Warryk didn't sound nearly as naive as she hoped him to be.

It was clear that the discussion earlier that day on _Cloud Nine_ with the Quorum Representatives was more for show and for the cameras than the real Warryk. He was clever, more clever than she expected. She also wondered if that whole incident with the Cylons that very conveniently showed up right after they approached the ship was not also for show. What she couldn't figure it out yet is if the theatrics were intended to fool her, Bill and Lee, or if it was for the Cylons. Either way, she would make sure to keep a close look on _Pacifica_ and it's Commander.

**End of Act**


	7. Act VII: Degrees of Separation II

Greetings, everyone.

This chapter is considerable longer than the others so far, because the story got some very interesting developments.

**lonerwulf**: Well, i hop that this one is long enough for you =D

**EvilTheLast**: I've been thinking about D'Anna... Wait for future chapters, that will be a blast.

**darkfinder**: Want until you read this one...

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

Master Chief Officer Helena Xander (Hangar Chief)

Petty Officer Simon "Jaffah" Four (Mechanic)

Petty Officer Dana Busch (Mechanic)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, Post "Razor", Pre "Downloaded".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act VII – Degrees of Separation II**

[Day 254 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.115 Humans, 735 Cylons]

[BSG96 – Support Carrier Bellus]

The atmosphere was sober on the Colonial Support Carrier _Bellus, _ one of the two Carriers that accompanied _Pacifica_. Today was the day to honor and say goodbye to the fallen on the Basestar attack on the Fleet. Admiral **Bill Adama** hadn't lost anyone this time, no, the casualties had all been from the _Pacifica's_ Fleet. But that didn't make things easier. To his side, President **Laura Roslin** was also silent. They were invited as the leaders of what was left of humanity.

But this time they were not just among military personnel. The people who had died had families there. They were volunteers on the _Pacifica_, men and women that decided to help out the protectors of the Fleet, in their job to ensure the survival of Humanity. And then, there were the Cylons. Among the 12 dead, they were 2 of them. But it could have been much more. They had 38 other people injured in the hospital ship, and other 60 that had been saved by these twelve. They were there, in the Hangar of the _Bellus,_ around 200 people, humans and Cylons, to honor their fallen.

Adama and Roslin were seated in one of the reserved seats, besides the widow of the one of the fallen, and some of the Assembly Representatives. To the center of the stage, besides the two priests, in front of the coffins and the crowd, Commander **Jann Warryk** and Captain **Leela Six**, Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of the Fleet, were standing, with the Assembly Chairman, Captain **Kwesi Ashanti** of the _Botanical Cruiser _at their side. Adama recognized some of the faces on the reserved seats on the other side of the stage; _Pacifica's_ CAG, Captain **Kaleb Blackthorne**, the Cylon Lieutenant **Leoben Kane Two** and Representative Freeman of the Delegation to the Quorum. Vice-President **Gaius Baltar **was also there, as it was expected of a candidate running for the presidency.

Words were spoken, brief testimonies of relatives, widowed husbands and wives, fellow crew mates and friends, remembering the dead. Adama felt Roslin tighten her grip on his arm at one point, when a young girl showed up on stage with flowers. He knew who she was. Laura had told him about the girl she met on the _Botanical Cruiser _that they were forced to leave behind. He put his hand over hers, in a gesture of support. The girl never looked at them.

She went down the steps that separated the priests from the coffins, and went up again, going to Leela, and taking her hand, bringing her along. He didn't know if that was staged or not; at that moment, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the scene of the Second in Command of the fleet, with eyes glistening, helping a young girl put flowers over a dozen coffins. And Warryk kept stoic, quiet, somber as the atmosphere the entire time.

The Admiral believed that, despite all the suspicions and distrust that he had in relation to the Warryk, what he was seen was not an act. He spoke, briefly. He spoke their names, He stated that their sacrifice saved the lives of a hundred people. He prayed for them. They all chanted _"So Say We All"_, and the coffins were loaded in the launch tubes, to be sent into space. The Fleet got into formation, and turned all the external lights to illuminate the darkness, as the coffins, escorted by Vipers and Raiders, moved away from the fleet.

When it was all over, Adama and Roslin went to _Pacifica_, before they too the shuttle back to their Fleet...

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

[Commander's Office]

The Admiral and the President were escorted by the security detail leaded by the Cylon Centurion **Aton**. He wasn't sure if it was intentional or not to have _it_ of all people escort them, but he kept quiet, as long as the chromed soldier kept doing his job. Soon, they got to the familiar Office of the Commander. The hatch opened, and the Cylon let them in.

They found inside not only Warryk, but also Leela, Kane and Blackthorne. The CAG and the Lieutenant got up from their chairs and saluted Adama and Roslin, but Leela, who had clearly been crying noted by the blurred marks in her makeup, and Warryk, that was inclined over the table, his jacket unbuttoned and his glasses somewhere among the the files of the dead that were scattered all over the table. A half full bottle of _Hawryliw Liquor_ with a empty glass was right next to him.

- "Admiral. We weren't expecting your visit." - Kaleb said.

- "At easy, gentleman." - Adama replied.

Leela quickly excused herself, moving to the sink on the side, to clean herself up, and Warryk looked from the files on the table to the two visitors. Bill was sure that this was this was the real Warryk he was looking at, without acts or theatrics...

- "Admiral. Madam President." - The Commander acknowledged their presence.

- "Commander." - Laura replied, with a polite smile. - "It was a beautiful service."

- "They deserved it." - Warryk replied.

Blackthorne looked uncomfortable, and he looked at his CO:

- "I should go back to the flight deck now. I talk to you later." - Kaleb said.

Warryk responded with a wave of hand, and a mock salute.

- "Admiral, Madam President." - The Captain said.

Laura smiled with a nod as the pilot left the room. Kane looked at Leela fixing her makeup on the mirror, and then to Warryk and said:

- "I better get back to the CIC before Bask starts calling me on over the comm." - Kane said.

- "You do that, Leoben. And bring those starcharts before the 1300 briefing, please." - The Commander replied.

- "Aye Aye, Sir." - Kane replied, and looking at Adama and Roslin, he said - "Admiral, Madam President, it was a pleasure to see you again."

Adama simply nodded. As the Cylon Lieutenant left the room, Leela finished putting herself together. She walked to the table, and said:

- "Admiral, Madam President, would you like to drink something?" - The Cylon Captain asked.

Adama declined, but Roslin accepted the offer, requesting a cup of water. The Admiral walked over to the table, as the President sat on the couch, and he looked at the papers that were there besides the personal files of the deceased. Starcharts, scout reports, mission diagrams...

- "Are you planning to go somewhere?" - Adama asked.

- "Always, Admiral. " - Warryk replied, picking up one of the reports and turning it around on the table for Adama to see - "This is part of the data that Drake gave us."

Coordinates. Routes, Detection Beacons. The location of Cylons outposts and mining operations in the nearby sector. Likely, attractive targets, and even more likely traps.

- "You don't trust this information, do you?" - Adama asked.

- "As much as you both trust me." - Warryk replied, looking at the Admiral square in the eyes.

Leela, that had just given the water to Roslin, looked at the Commander and the Admiral. With pleading eyes, she said:

- "Jann, please, not now." - She asked.

Adama didn't bulge, as didn't Warryk. They kept this visual confrontation, until Leela called his name again. Then the Commander looked away, grabbed his glass and poured some more liquor on it. He glanced at Adama and then at Roslin:

- "My apologies. Funerals put me in a bad mood." - Warryk said. - " No, I don't trust blindly the data we receive, and that's why I'm sending scouts to verify every one of these targets."

- "And this scout report will be shared with us, I hope." - Roslin said.

Roslin gave one of her polite smiles as Warryk looked at her with a hint of annoyance:

- "Yes, we will share our findings will your fleet and your government, Madam President. ." - The Commander replied. - "You both are the leaders of what is left of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

- "Yes, we are what is left of the Colonies." - Adama confirmed, and with a tone that denoted business, kept going - "The real question, Mr. Warryk, is what exactly are you? Because I'm know that you don't see yourself as a Colonial and that everything that we saw here when we first came aboard this ship was a very elaborate act."

Roslin noticed the look Leela gave to Warryk. She looked serious, and a bit worried, but the Commander was eerily serene.

- "You are partially right. It was an act, indeed, to make sure that the envoys saw us both as the same, as Colonial Officers. That is why that Number One was terrified of you both, and that's why he went out of his way to try to paint me as the _Toaster Fanboy_ that everyone in your fleet think I am." - Warryk said. - "Of course, it was a moot point. From the moment that you stepped out of that raptor, I already knew that you would not trust me."

- "So that was a ruse for the Cylon envoys." - Roslin asked, not entirely convinced yet. - "Why? What did you expect to accomplish with that?"

- "To diverge their attention from the Colonial Fleet, and force the Cylons that are not satisfied with their current course of action to do something about it" - Leela said.

- "So, you did that to protect us..." - Adama concluded, not exactly convinced.

- "Well, we figured that, if I made them mad enough at us, they would change their focus." - Warryk replied - "They had been reluctant to get near since we rescued the sick from their derelict Basestar. After their initial attack failed and the decease spread to our attackers, they became afraid."

- "Afraid?" - Adama repeated, with skepticism...

The Admiral noticed that at that moment, the Cylon glanced intently at Warryk. He gave her a brief nod, and she turned to Adama:

- "I was the Leader of the Basestars that attacked this fleet. Our assault group was repealed and we retracted when we saw that we were outnumbered." - She revealed - "It was just hours before the first symptoms started to show among my crew. The other Cylons panicked, they attacked us, killed many of us, and he had to flee. Jann took what was left of my crew, even though we were the aggressors."

- "We saved just fifty of the infected from the first Basestar." - Warryk said - "The rest of the Cylons we have here now are Leela's crew. We salvaged their ruined Basestar, adapted their technology to our systems and integrated the Fleet, so that we could operate with the minimal crew that we have."

- "And, that's why you made her your XO." - Adama concluded.

- "That, and to demonstrate that we form a united front." - Warryk replied - "I wasn't kidding when I said that we had problems integrating the human part and the Cylon part of the fleet."

Things seemed to make more sense now to Adama. However, he knew that there were things that those two were not telling them:

- "So, you knew who we were all the time, and you used the _Pegasus_ as an excuse to show up..." - The Admiral said.

- "In part." - Warryk admitted - "Yes, we knew who you were since we rescued the ships left behind near Caprica. And we lured _Pegasus_ into meet you. The original plan was to get rid of Cain, so that you could take command of the ship."

- "Admiral Cain was dangerous, and we saw what she was capable of." - Leela added - "We didn't want to risk anymore tragedies like the _Scylla_, so we sent her to you. If you didn't get rid of her, it would at least get enough of her attention for us to get an operative in and terminate her command. Obviously, we weren't expecting her to have kept a Six prisoner."

- "So, you were planning to kill Cain." - Adama said.

- "We figured it that if you would not do, she would to it to you, and your Fleet would be doomed." - Warryk replied

Adama didn't respond to that. He knew that they were right on Cain, and that her survival would have meant Ruin to the Fleet.

[Raptor – In route to _Colonial One_]

[45 minutes later]

Laura Roslin looked out the window to the Fleet. Her second trip to _Pacifica_ had been enlightening. She still didn't trust Warryk, but now she knew where he stands, and that gave her some comfort. Across from her, Bill Adama was also satisfied in getting some answers.

- "I wasn't completely wrong, you know?" - Bill confessed.

- "Wrong?" - Laura asked.

- "Yes. Since I sanctioned his field promotion, I have been thinking why I had done that." - The Admiral confessed - "It was really bugging me, specially after I've figured that they were lying."

- "And you're saying that you're not completely wrong on promoting him..." - Laura replied.

- "Yes. The Kid is the leader of his Fleet. That's a fact." - Adama said - "And he kept them alive. I might not trust him, but he earned some respect."

- "Is that a praise, Bill?" - Laura asked, jokingly

- "Perhaps." - Adama said, with a half-smirk. - "But I still don't understand why he will keep with the Integration motion in the Quorum, if he has no intention of join us."

- "Well, I actually have the answer to that." - Laura said, with a charming smile.

Adama looked with curiosity, as she started to explain to him the trade agreement that she was negotiating with Warryk...

[BSG96 – Pacifica]

[Hangar Deck]

- "Ok, lets see if I understand what you're trying to say." - Kaleb Blackthorne said, taking a deep breath, as he tried not to get upset - "You're telling me that our raiders brought back from the battle an entire squadron of raiders? Is that it?"

**Helena Xander **didn't look at the CAG, as she finished adjusting one of the power conduits on a Viper, but she didn't have to see him to know that he was not a happy camper.

- "That's what I've said." - The Deck Chief replied.

- "And you say that as if they had brought back a puppy on the way back from school!" - Blackthorne said, a vein almost popping up on his forehead.

The tall brunette closed the panel and turned to the pilot, as she walked to the steps for the cockpit:

- "Yes. I talked to the XO and she gave them the OK." - Helena said, as she tested the instruments - "Dana and Jaffah are painting our colors on them right there."

Xander pointed at an area in the hangar where that had tents assembled, possibly for painting works.

- "You must be frakking kidding me..." - Kaleb said in disbelieve.

He marched towards the tents, intent on take control of the situation he turned abruptly, in his best military fashion, opening the tent. He was the CAG, he was in charge of the fighters, he was...

- - "Watch out!" - Someone yelled.

… Covered in yellow dust.

From the tent, Hangar officers **Dana Busch** and **Jaffah Four** came out, both wearing disposable jumpsuits and masks, and both had spots of paint all over their suits.

- "I told you to be careful! It was a very sensitive area!" - Jaffah said

- "Is not my fault that some idiot didn't read the sign and opened the frakking tent!" - Dana retorted, and as she found the _intruder_, she froze - "Captain!"

Kaleb got a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face, trying to look ad dignified as the situation allowed. Four and Busch immediately saluted the CAG, staying in position, trying their best to keep serious, even as they witnessed the ridiculous picture of the Pilot covered in gleaming yellow. Of course, they were not doing so well at that...

- "Now, Officer Bush, to what sign that this idiot didn't read that you are referring to?" - Blackthorne asked, not even needing her to answer as he saw the big red sign hanging on the side, a sign that he completely failed to notice before - "... (sigh) I guess I deserved that."

Jaffah and Dana had to use of extreme willpower not to burst laughing at that point. Of course, Chief Xander had no such problem, as she approached, giddy and enjoying herself way too much for Blackthorne's taste.

- "Kaleb, I'm sorry, but yellow is not your color." - Helena joked.

- "ha-Ha-Haaaa." - the CAG gave a sarcastic laugh - "You're a riot, Chief. Now."

- "Sorry, Captain." - Dana apologized. - "I was painting the wingtip,but _Fluffly_ has some sensitivity in that area."

- "I've tried to tell you, but you are as stubborn as a mule." - Jaffah replied.

- "I didn't have any problem with the other raiders, its not my fault that he is ticklish!" - Dana replied, getting on the Cylon's face, even tough he was several inches taller then her.

The two of them started to argue, as Blackthorne, confused, stopped them:

- "Ok, ok... Hey, you two, STOP!" - Kaleb ordered.

As Dana and Jaffah shut their mouths and turned to the CAG, as he asked:

- "Who the frakk is _Fluffy_?" - He asked.

The two mechanics looked at each other, and turned to open the tent. Kaleb found himself right in front of a Raider, its gloomy wandering sensors moving from one side to the other. That was **Fluffy**, one of the most lethal machines in the universe, named as if it was a little, cuddly puppy. Blackthorne was speechless. For the life of him, he could not imagine how that situation could turn even worse than it was already.

Then, he heard from the speakers on the speech system that had been adapted on the Cylon,his answer...

-==_MEOW==-_

[Commander's Office – half an hour later]

Kaleb Blackthorne was not having a good day. First, he found out that the Ship's XO had added a full squadron of Cylon Raiders to his Air Group, than he was assaulted with yellow dust paint by a mean-looking raider whose name was Fluffy and that had the adopted personality of a cat. And now, at the daily briefing of the Senior Staff of the _Pacifica_, he brought the topic of the new fighters to be discussed, but the reactions were not the ones he expected...

- "I fail to see the humor in that." - Blackthorne said, as he observed his colleagues laughing, and the Ship's Commander on the floor with the Hangar Chief, both laughing to the point of tears.

- "hehehe... i'm sorry.. hahahahaha!" - Warryk tried to contain himself... but didn't put much effort in that... - "You right..., hihihihih... Its not funny, UHUHAUHAUHAUHAH!"

Helena tried to hold on the table, but she kept laughing so hard that her belly hurt.

- "Oh, Frakk you both!" - Kaleb said, ad he threw the pillow from the couch on them.

Observing the whole spectacle in confusion, Leela Six spoke:

- "I'm sorry, Kaleb. I didn't know that accepting the Raiders would create a problem for you." - Leela said.

- "Don't you worry, Blondy, you didn't do anything wrong. Is just these two clowns that are trying my patience." - Kaleb replied - "I'm glad that we have some more fighters, but I wish that I had the opportunity to name before someone like Dana _'Miss Cuddles'_ Busch completely frakk the whole thing by naming raiders after her puppies."

- " heheheh... Did Dana really name a Raider _Fluffy_?" - Jann asked

- "No, she said someone else had the idea, but she agreed wholehearted. Hahahahah.." - Helena replied.

- "hahahaha! I bet she tried to adopt it!" - Jann added, for further hilarity.

Leoben could see the vein almost popping up o the CAG's forehead, so he intervened:

- "Come now, guys, that enough already." - Kane said.

Helena and Jann looked at each other, and after a couple of nods, they got up, with grins on their faces, but perfectly in control...

- "Frakking Cancerons, I'm telling you, they drop their kids on their heads; its part of their growing up process." - Blackthorne said, as he knew that Xander and Warryk were from the planet - "That's why they act like retards sometimes."

Blackthorne sat on the couch, as Warryk got a hold of the roster, and gave it a quick read:

- "You need to loosen up, Black." - The Commander said - "So, Flip and Shadow found them in the same sector where the Basestar exploded?"

- "Affirmative." - Kane replied - "They were in patrol with _Tau Wing_, when they both apparently got the transponders signals from the raiders. They left formation, jumped and brought back the squadron."

Jann looked at Kane, his eyebrow slightly raised:

- "Well, I guess the raiders were too close to the Basestar when the Mag-Pulse hit them." - Kane said - "They probably lost their connection with the fleet, and became stranded. They would have died if Shadow and Flip hadn't brought them in."

- "So, is there a chance that they can turn against us?" - Blackthorne asked.

- "Unlikely." - Leela stated - "They already linked to our hybrids. When we cut their connection they truly became lost puppies. Now, we adopted them."

Warryk looked at Xander, them at Blackthorne and said:

- "Well, now you feed and bathe them and the Captain with walk them. Just like the others." - The Commander joked.

- "So, how long until they start talking?" - Blackthorne asked.

- "Hard to say." - Xander replied - "It took two months to Shadow to evolve its synaptics to a level that would allow intelligible speech. It might take weeks, it might take months.. We will go on a case by case for now."

- "I don't get it." - Kaleb replies - "We put voice synthesizers on the Centurions, and they speak right away. We do it on the raiders and they're like babies or animals."

- "Centurions have full developed intellect from creation. They just didn't talk because we all spoke through electronic signals." - Kane explained. - "It looked just redundant to put mouths on them."

Kaleb didn't ask for more details. Warryk waited for anyone to say something, them he advanced on their agenda:

- "Ok, next point today. Mr Kane, please, report." - Warryk said.

- "Very well. I've got word of our people in their fleet." - Kane said - "The Sharon in _Galactica's _brig will give birth to the child in very soon."

- "Do they know that already?" - Leela asked.

- "No, Doctor Whitewood checked Cottle's medical logs of her." - Kane replied. - "It its likely to be considered a premature birth by him."

- "What matters is that the child will be safe. That's all that matters." - Xander replied. - "Do we know what Roslin and Adama will do with the child?"

Warryk got one of the folders and opened, letting personal files of several women in the table:

- "Our intelligence didn't show any move from Adama, but the President already made her move." - Jann revealed - "All of these women had been screened by Roslin's people, all of them either lost children or families in the attack."

- "So, she doesn't plan to kill the child..." - Kaleb said, with some relief.

- "No, she doesn't, but she wont let the Mother keep it either." - Warryk said.

Kaleb looked at his comrades and then turned to Warryk:

- "What _They_ had to say about it?" - Blackthorne asked.

- "The _Old Man_ thinks that she will fake the child's death and possibly keep the child in secret someone." - Warryk said - "That's where these women will play their part."

- "He might be right." - Kane said - "Our intelligence reports that a dead infant's body was sent from the _Zephyr_ to _Galactica. _The order came from _Colonial One._"

- "Well, we know what she plans and how does she plans to get the child." - Xander said - "Now, the question is, what do we do?"

Helena walked to the couch where Kane was seated, and unceremoniously, she accommodated her self on his lap.

- "_Loudmouth_ says we should wait right now." - Warryk said - "Approach Gaius Baltar. Get him on our side."

- "I don't think we can trust Baltar right now." - Leela said - "I checked into Caprica Six Data Banks. He's selfish and petty and his loyalty is questionable."

- "You accessed the Unity?" - Helena asked - "That's dangerous, Leela. If they find you..."

The Captain shook her head, getting up from her chair and approaching the table:

- "I know, I know... but we needed information." - Leela replied - "Besides, I got a glimpse on her... she was _chosen_."

- "No way! That's great news!" - Kane said - "She can be valuable to us. We could try to bring her in..."

- "She will come when the time is right." - Warryk said. - "For now, he have to focus on Baltar. He was _chosen_ too."

- "You're frakking me."- Blackthorne said - "Baltar?"

Jann didn't reply with words. He nodded to Leela, and she touched the Datastream. On the monitors, the recorded image of the Vice-President talking with someone that the camera didn't caught was shown...

- "Ok, so he talks by himself. That's not proof enough." - Blackthorne said.

Leela then changed the image. Now showing a spectrographical, Kaleb saw the disturbance, and the light right next to Baltar.

- "Holly God... He was _chosen_!" - Kaleb exclaimed. - "But the guy is a dick! I heard him speaking, he's so full of himself that almost made me choke."

- "Were any of us so better than him before we heard the call?" - Jann asked, and as he received silent nods in reply, he continue - "He has to be reformed, remade in the man that God wants he to be."

- "Is that what _She_ said?" - Helena asked.

- "That's what _She _and _Mother_ said." - Warryk replied.

- "Then, _the Conclave_ has spoken." - Helena spoke..

She got up, as did Kane, they approached the table, as did Blackthone.

- "He will have to be broken, like a vase, turned into mud to be remade." - Blackthorne said

- "He will, Kaleb, he will. And we will help him." - Helena said - "We will carry God's plans, as we have always done."

Helena opened her left sleeve, bringing it up to her elbow, and as she did, Kane, then Blackthorne, then Leela and Warryk did the same. They brought forth their exposed arms, , putting their hands together, as a the common symbol they had tattooed on their arms became apparent, a Infinity monogram...

- "The _Soldiers of the One_ exist to execute God's Will. This is our purpose, this is our calling, this is our will." - Jann Warryk stated. - "So say we all."

- "So say we all." - They all replied in one voice.

**End of Act**


	8. ACT VIII: Heritage

Guys, guys, guys, you gave me such good ideas that I actually took longer to write this chapter because I did almost write three chapters at once... now, I'm trying to keep everything in chronological order, so, I won't post everything, as there might be things that I want to change.

Enjoy =D

PS: If anyone has theme song for a catfight, please, send it to me. read it to the end and you will understand.

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

Master Chief Officer Helena Xander (Hangar Chief)

Jr. Lieutenant Sharon "Isis" Eight (Pilot)

Centurion Sargent Aton

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, "Downloaded" to "Lay Down Your Burdens".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act VIII – Heritage.**

[Day 258 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.115 Humans, 735 Cylons]

[BSG62 – Pegasus]

It was still around mid-day, and Commander **Lee Adama** was already wishing to call a day. To command a Battlestar was a lot more complex than to command a Air Group. There was a docking accident with one of the transports that were picking up supplies from _Pacifica_, with the aggravating factor that it was his pilot's fault. The guy refused to receive instructions from the Cylon comptroller, and ended up hitting the Freighter, causing moderate damage. And now, because of that, he had to deal with their Cylon Lieutenant, as the Commander and XO were on _Cloud Nine_ for the Quorum meeting:

- "... Yes, Mister Kane, I will make sure that the pilots follow their instructions to the letter." - Lee said. - "And once more, relay my apologies to your Commander."

Lee was secretly grateful that Lieutenant Kane was being so polite and magnanimous. It was bad enough that he had to deal directly with him, it just made matters worse that he was the party that had wronged them. As he hanged up the phone, he looked around, finding Lieutenant **Louis Hoshi** , Pegasus XO, and them he said:

- "Please let Starbuck know that the next screw up on the supply run will cool his heels in a brig."- Apollo said, irritated. - "This is a basic procedure, and I don't care if the guy passing instructions on the other side of the Wireless is human, Cylon or a frakking teddy bear. They will follow their instructions to the letter."

- "Right away, sir." - Hoshi replied.

- "Having problems?" - A familiar feminine voice sounded behind Lee

He turned around, to be greeted by the gracious view of **Anastasia Dualla**. She approached the table, saluting Apollo and giving him a folder:

- "Your officer exchange list for the week." - Dualla said.

- "My officer exchange list for this week, humm?" - Lee repeated, as he opened the folder, going through the names quickly. - "Very interesting..."

- "And you will notice, Sir, that my name is on page 2, forth to up." - Dualla added with a smile.

- "You are? Oh, there you are..." - Lee replied, with mock surprise. - "I guess I will have you for a entire week then."

Dualla smiled with mischief at the double meaning of the words. Lee gave her the folder back and said:

- "Welcome to _Pegasus_, Lieutenant." - He said.

- "Thank you, Commander." - She replied.

Hoshi, who accompanied the whole exchanged, smiled discreetly as he turned back to his console... then, he saw his chrono and looked at the CO:

- "Commander, the Quorum will be in section in three minutes." - Louis said.

- "Oh, good that you reminded me." - Lee replied, and turning to the Ops Console, he said - "Ensign, put the wireless on the speakers. That ought to be good."

[Fleet Space - Wireless]

_-==...and now continuing the live coverage from the Quorum of Twelve Special Session on Cloud Nine, hosted by The Colonial Gang Trio, James McManus, Playa Palacios and Sekou Hamilton==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Good afternoon, Listeners of the Twelve Colonies, and thank you for tuning on us. I'm James McManus and here with me I have Playa Palacios and Sekou Hamilton.==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Welcome all to the seventh and final day of the Special Session of the Quorum of Twelve. Today we will have a vote on the Integration motion by the Second Fleet. ==- _

_Hamilton:_

_-== That's right, Playa. Today we will know if the new neighbors will move to the house next to us or if they will keep the house on the other quarter.==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Nice analogy, Sekou, but I don't know if the Quarter is far enough. I believe that if the motion fail, Pacifica and its fleet won't be allowed to get pass the Red Line without authorization. ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== 'When' the motion fail, Playa, the 'Toaster Hugger' Fleet wont be allowed in Fleet Space without authorization. In my opinion, that's still to close to have that many Cylons less than a jump away from us.==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== It is a bleak outlook for the motion, as we had numerous protests around the ships this week, regarding this motion.==-_

_Palacios:_

_-==But not all public demonstrations were against the motion. Remember, this week, here in Cloud Nine, on Zephy and Adriatic, the 'Demand Peace' rally, that had a sizable crowd.==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Oh, please, is it bad already that we have the Chrome Polishers knocking at our door, now you have to remind me of these nutjobs?==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== You cant deny the fact that they exist, James.==-_

_McManus:_

_-== If I acknowledge that they exist, can I ship them to Pacifica?==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== ...and here comes you again with your radicalism... ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== What? They love the Toasters, they might as well live with them.==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Actually, I agree with James on that, Playa. We could ship some of the willing people to Pacifica's Fleet, and that would ease up on our superpopulation problem here.==-_

_Playa:_

_-== 'Superpopulation'? Are you serious, Sekou? We have a little over 50.000 people int his fleet, and we are all of humanity now.==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== I know that, but this doesn't change the fact that we have very little space here while they have a lot of space there. Our density here is roughly 910 people per square kilometer. That is a lot of people such small space.==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Ok, I grant that they have more space than us.==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Actually, I spoke with Captain Leela Six this morning, and she gave me the right figures. They have a density of 154 people per square kilometer. That's a bit over a fifth of our density.==- _

_McManus:_

_-== You spoke with 'Miss Chrome Legs'?==-_

_Halmilton:_

_-== Yes I did, and she was very polite and helpful.==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Did you try touching her legs?==-_

_Playa:_

_-== James! Get your mind out of the gutter! ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== What? That's a perfectly legitimate question! We don't know if their skin feels warm like ours. Its a scientific experiment==-_

_Playa:_

_-==... right... I know what kind of science you want to do on her...==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-==... Errr, getting back on track here... We will go now to the ballroom were Pacifica's delegation is arriving.==-_

[Cloud Nine – Quorum of Twelve]

All public seats inside the ballroom were taken for the session. Some protesters had been removed earlier, and banners and signs were forbidden by the security forces. In the Presidential Box, **Laura Roslin** and **Bill Adama** watched as the delegation from the Second Fleet entered the floor. The Members of the Quorum entered, one by one, taking their seats: **Alesander Aisiel** of Aileron, **Marshall Bagot **of Virgon, **Miksa Burian** of Aquaria, **Perah Enyeto** of Tauron, **Oswyn Eriku** of Libran, **Erald Hunt** of Leonis, **Sasha Porter** of Gemenon, **Eladio Puasha** of Scorpio, **Safiya Sanne** of Picon, **Robin Wenetu** of Canceron, **Tom Zarek** of Sagittaron and **Gaius Baltar** of Caprica.

- "Well, I'm glad that this will be over." - Adama confided. - "Things are already too tense as it is."

- "I wouldn't be so glad, Bill." - Laura replied. - "We can't just brush them away. Besides the resources they have that we need, they are also part of what is left of humanity."

- "I don't deny that, but I could do without the Cylon part..." - He said.

- "I will agree to that." - Laura replied, as she elbowed him, pointing with her head to the ballroom floor.

- "You must be kidding me." - The Admiral said, getting up from his chair, as he saw the entourage arrive.

First, came the the local security forces. They had their guns in their hands, and were slowly moving back... then, the reason for their behavior showed. Four marines, followed by five Cylon Centurions entered the room, causing gasps, collective murmurs and even people to back away...

- "He's completely out of his frakking mind." - Adama said, with a snarl.

The marines and centurions stopped, moving into formation, allowing the rest of them passage. A group of officers marched in, with **Helena Xanders** and **Kane Two** leading them. They stepped aside, then **Kaleb Blackthorne** and **Isis Eight** came after, also stepping aside in formation. **Jannus Warryk **and **Leela Six **came after, taking the front of the group, and with them, a Number Four and a woman, both giving hands to a child, not older than ten years old. Then, the Captain of the Botanical Cruiser, **Kwesi Ashanti** also came in, holding hands with the girl **Cami**.

The general commotion grew enough for the chairman of the quorum to knock his gavel and called order in the room.

- "Order, Order!" - Representative Sanne shouted.

It took a full minute for the decorum to be restored. Adama and Roslin glared with severity at the Senior Staff of _Pacifica_, and Warryk turned his head to look back at them. The Commander's expression was dead serious. The Admiral didn't like that, _at all_...

- "Mister Warryk." - Representative Porter started, severe.

- "_Commander_ Warryk, Madam Representative." - Warryk turned abruptly to the Quorum, correcting her - "I'm here as Fleet Commander of my people, not as a individual."

His tone was deep, denoted authority, and demanded respect. That was not the diplomatic posture of the last days, and didn't do anything to ease up the Admiral's worries. The gloves were off...

- "Very well, _Commander_." - Porter replied, with a slightly sarcastic tone - "May you explain this spectacle that you assemble in this Quorum's floor? What is the purpose of this little circus? "

- "There is no spectacle, or circus, Madam Representative. This is my Fleet." - Warryk responded and gesturing at his peers, he kept going - "_Our Fleet, _our people. Humans, Cylons, officers, civilians, friends, lovers, parents. I'm not going to sweeten it up just to pass this motion. If you choose to accept us in your midst, will be _all of us_, not only the parts that seen desirable to you."

Warryk let his words sink, as his entourage took the reserved seats, and he took his seat, having Leela and Ashanti by his side, Aton behind him and the other centurions in line. It it became noticeable then that many of them, including the Centurions, wore a Infinity symbol armband (the Civilians), or badge (the officers and centurions)...

Laura inclined herself and murmured to Bill:

- "Is that... a Infinity symbol?" - She asked, surprised.

Adama's face turned into a slightly scowl for a moment, and he went back to his severe expression:

- "It seems that the Commander is still full of surprises." - Laura said.

- "This is turning better and better." - He replied, with sarcasm

[Two hours later – Cloud Nine piano bar]

After two hours of excruciating heated debate, a one hour break was called in. due to security reasons, most of the entourage went back to the _Scylla_ (the transport they were using for the meeting), but Jann, Leela, Kaleb, Helena. Isis and Kane stayed, and went to the piano bar. The six officers attracted attention from the moment they walked into the room, but kept unfazed, taking seats in a lounge near the windows. The four security guards that served as their escort stayed at the door.

After they were seated, and the server approached them to take the orders, Blackthorne said:

- "Well, that was intense." - Kaleb commented, with a expression of relief.

- "Its the last day, Captain, you will survive." - Helena replied.

- "I thought that gal from Gemenon was going to loose it, after the you cut her right off for the third consecutive time, Commander..." - Isis said, with a amused expression.

- "I was more worried with the Picon Representative throwing that gavel at me." - Jann replied - "I'm pretty sure he put a dent on the wood there."

- "Well, at least they didn't bring tomatoes." - Helena joked.

- "Tomatoes are a commodity theses days." - Leela replied.

- "Well, I'm just glad that we only have an hour more to go." - Kaleb stated.

- "You and me both, Captain, you and me both." - Helena replied.

Jann took a sip of his drink, and looking at Kane, he asked:

- "Do you have news on _the package_?" - Warryk asked.

- "Delivered, safe and sound." - Kane replied, as he grabbed some of the chips on the table.

Leela looked at the Commander, and put her hand on his arm, as she said:

- "Thank you, Jann. You have no idea about how much that meant to me." - She said, in gratitude.

He looked back at her, his smile easy and and goofy, as he could only be around _his_ _family_:

- "Hey, you know me. I'm always up for saving the lost." - He responded, and turning to the center table, he grabbed some peanuts.

- "Disgruntled locals at 8 o'clock." - Kaleb said, in a even tone.

None of them looked back. They didn't need to, as they know knew what to listen for, and the steps, a few of them, were perfectly audible for the trained ears. The six officers kept behaving as if nothing was happening. They all shared serious glances.

- "We don't serve your kind here." - A loud, aggressive voice announced.

The group turned their heads to acknowledge the group of men that approached them. They were three in number, but Helena and Isis noticed at least six more individuals that were watching them intently.

Kane looked at the others and them reached for the peanut tray. One of the men advanced and smacked his hand on the table, between Kane's hand and the peanuts.

- "Didn't you hear what he said?" - The man said - "We don't serve frakking _Toasters_ here."

- "Lieutenant." - Helena said.

- "What?" - The man replied, confused.

- "Its Lieutenant _Toaster_ for you, frakkhead." - Helena replied, grabbing his hand and twisting it, making him yell in pain and roll, falling on the table.

Before the men could react, Blackthorne was up, with two FN pistols aimed at them. Isis was also up, with her pistol out too, and Kane and Leela didn't get up, instead just turning in their chairs with their guns aimed at them. The willingness of the men for aggression was suddenly gone as they stepped back, their hands slightly raised.

- "So, _gents_, do we have a problem here?" - Kaleb asked, doing a bit of exaggeration on his Scorpion accent, for dramatic effect.

- "Oh, boy, now you've made his day." - Isis joked - "He has been waiting forever to do his _gunslinger_ thing..."

It didn't take more than a few moments for the security guards to get inside, and they immediately worked their way to the group, getting in between _Pacifica's _officers and the unhappy group. Jann looked at the man that was in agony, still being pinned down by Helena:

- "Chief, I think he learned his lesson." - The Commander said. - "You can let go of him."

- "I don't know, Commander..." - Helena said, applying a bit more pressure just to hear the satisfying sound of the man squeal - "I think his head is too thick. I might need to minister some more _incentive._"

- "ARGH! I'M SORRY! Godsdammit! I'm Sorry!" - The guy screamed

- "See?" - Helena replied, finally letting go of the guy, that rolled from the table to the ground, stumbling to put some distance between him and the tall brunette.

- "Leave him alone, bitch!" - A woman, that was behind Helena and Kane screamed, as she jumped against her.

Helena didn't give much effort to get herself free from the struggle, but her small victory, didn't come without a price; her jacket ripped as the woman grabbed her, the woman's own clothes getting entangled with Xander's uniform. She pushed the woman against the guards, as Kane got up to protect her.

- "Thanks a million, sister! You just frakked up my uniform..." - Helena complained.

In a display of chivalry, Leoben took his own jacket as Xander got rid of her's. She took of her destroyed jacket, but in the process, the pendant that she wore inside the uniform fell to the ground...

- "Oh, Frakk!" - Helena cursed, as she looked around, not seeing the pendant. She looked at Kane in panic - "Leoben, the pendant."

The Lieutenant didn't need to be told twice, as he knew the significance, and danger that the heirloom piece represented...

- "What's going on?" - Jann asked.

- "She lost her pendant." - Kane said.

The expression of alarm in the Commander's face mirrored the expression on the others face, as they knew exactly what that meant.

- "Oh boy, that's not good." - Kaleb said, putting his guns away and getting down to look for the pendant.

The guards, the disgruntled mob and the other people in the bar looked with curiosity as the officers got down on their knees and started moving around the table and chairs. Leela stayed up, as the floor was already too crowded, and Isis was the only one with the gun still out.

- "Great timing, Chief, great timing." - Isis said with sarcasm, keeping a watch on the civilians.

The guards looked at each other, lost as to what they should do as they saw the scene.

- "Frakk, where the heck that thing go?" - Kaleb asked.

- "It must be here somewhere!" - Helena said, starting to panic.

- "Calm down, sweetheart, we will find it." - Kane tried to give her a measurement of support.

Helena finally saw her treasured pendant, but her feeling of relief turned to panic, as she saw the young waitress knee down and grab it, raising it up by the chain, there, for everyone to see... As Jann and Kaleb saw the color flush away from Helena's face, they looked around, and saw the waitress and the pendant...

- "Oh, Frakk..." - that was all that Jann managed to say, has he saw the clear expression of recognition on the young waitress' face...

Some of the other people also recognized the pendant, with its nine small gem stones representing the nine stars of the ancient Virgon Constellation, united by silver lines, wrapped around the cobalt gem known as the _Blue Fire of Hestia_, a ancient artifact of the Virgon Civilization, and also, a crest of their ruling family.

- "By the gods..." - A man spoke in awe, to the right of the waitress.

He looked at Helena, that at this point, didn't bother to cover her exposed chest, and the birthmark over her left breast, a mark that every member of the Virgon Royal Family received as infants.

- "Oh God... thins just got complicated." - Jann said, as he saw the man kneel, and bow in reverence.

Helena took a deep breath, as some more of the Virgons that were there started to do the same. She walked to the waitress, that had the pendant now held in her two shaky hands, extended to her. The chief gave her a silent thanks and grabbed the pendant, re-attaching its chain around her neck...

The man that first knelt got up, and looking at her with reverence, he said:

- "Your highness, Blessed are the Gods; you're alive!" - He said, right before the crowd went crazy.

[Fleet Space - Wireless]

_Hamilton:_

_-== ...And that's what I call a real bomb in the bullpen. ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== You're absolutely right, Sekou. For those of you that just tuned in, today's biggest story is now the revelation that a heir to the Throne of Virgon is alive, and in the fleet! ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== That's right, folks. He have among us Her Royal Highness Princess Helena Alexandra-Knossus of Virgon, daughter of Princess Malia of Virgon and grand-daughter of King Juktas II of Virgon. ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== She was serving as the Senior Hangar Officer on Pacifica, under the name Xander, that her mother adopted from her Tauron husband, after their scandalous marriage and her consecutive abdication to the throne. ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== What a juicy piece of gossip, Playa. I can see your eyes sparking. ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== I don't know if you know, but my family is from Virgon, so should I bow to the princess? Am I a subject of the crown? ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Sure, why not, Playa. You should kneel too... ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Welcome back, James. ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Sorry folks, but I was in emergency assembly of the Quorum representatives. Apparently, since the news of the re-appearing of Princess Helena of Virgon, a flood of loyal subjects from all over the fleet took the gardens of Cloud Nine, begging to see the Princess. ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== It is surprising to see this level of affection, specially since all the talk of Republic Reformation that I covered there two years ago. ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== Apparently no Republicanists made it to the fleet. Perhaps Her Highness chromed boyfriend took care of that for her? ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== These are still rumors, James ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Please, Sekou... it is clear that Her Highness is in a relationship with the Cylon Model Two Lieutenant Kane . Several witnesses testified as to how close they appeared to be, since she came into the floor of the Quorum today, hand to hand with her handsome Cylon.==-_

_McManus:_

_-== I can't believe that you just called a Toaster "handsome" ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== I'm sorry, but you were lusting after the Six XO of Pacifica, drooling all over the floor for her and know I can't say that he's handsome? ==-_

_McManus:_

_-== I was not lusting after that Toaster! ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Yes, you were. Wasn't him lusting after Captain Leela, Sekou? ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Well, technically, he wasn't drooling, but... ==-_

_Palacios:_

_-== Oh, please, if she had offered him a handshake he would probably propose to her...==-_

_McManus:_

_-== I would not! ==-_

_Hamilton:_

_-== Err.. ok, lets go back to the show... The recess will be extended for another hour, as President Roslin and her cabinet are in a meeting with Her Highness and the military high command... ==-_

[Colonial One]

- "This was supposed to be a simple hearing, to confirm the rejection of the Integration motion, as you already knew that would happen." - Laura Roslin started - "But now we have a diplomatic nightmare in our hands. What do you have to say for yourself, Commander?"

Jann Warryk looked to the President, fully aware that if the Admiral could harm him by looking at him, he would be fulminated right on the spot. Besides him, seated on the other chair, Commander Adama also didn't look very happy. The fact that the Admiral even seemed to forget that a Number Eight was in the room was reason enough to guess how pissed he was. On the back seats, Colonel Tight, Captain Thrace and Dr. Baltar were not really paying attention to the Commander's and Helena's explanation of the events. They were too busy with Leela, Kane, Kaleb, Isis, that were seating on the other side of the corridor.

- "You know, it is still not too late to throw them all in the brig." - Tigh said, in a low voice.

- "Why bother, Colonel? Just use the airlock." - Isis replied in the same low tone, sarcastic.

- "Now you listen, _Chrome legs_. If you want to keep pretending that this uniform that you wear represents something to you, you better remember you rank." - Tigh said in a low tone, with contempt.

Isis was ready to give a retort, when Blackthorne stopped her and looked at the Colonel:

- "I'm not going to allow you to put in doubt the commitment of one of my pilots solely based on her species." - Kaleb stated, inclining himself to be heard by the Colonel.

- "Its her species commitment to wipe out all of humanity that puts her loyalty to the uniform in doubt." - Tigh replied.

- "Ok, guys, can we be reasonable and civilized right now?" - Kane asked in the low voice, trying to be as diplomatic as possible.

- "Civilized as in when you guys blew the colonies?" - Kara Thrace asked also in a low voice.

- "Oh, now we bring back the same old talking points." - Isis exclaimed with sarcasm, in a low voice. - "I don't know if you noticed, Starbuck, but that Basestar was shooting at us and ignoring you guys completely. In the eyes of the Cylon fleet, we are enemy just as you are."

- "Oh, I'm sorry, Boomer, is that supposed to make me feel better?" - Thrace replied, in a low voice.

- "I already told you, My name is Isis."- She replied, irritated, barely keeping a low voice.

- "I'm sorry, you look all the same. Maybe you should stick a name tag to your forehead so that we know the difference." - Starbuck suggested with irony, in not so low voice.

- "The only thing I'm sticking is my foot in your butt!" - Isis said, barely keeping her tone down..

- "Bring it on!" - Kara replied, in a low voice and with a maniacal smile on her face..

Both Starbuck and Isis got up from their seats, being held immediately by Tigh and Blackthorne, and effectively interrupting the official business in the front row.

- "Is there a problem?" - President Roslin asked.

The Admiral, Lee and Warryk looked back, and both Isis and Starbuck put their best triad faces:

- "No, no..." - Isis said, looking at Starbuck.

- "... We're just going to..." - Starbuck completed...

- "... Use the Bathroom!" - Isis improvised.

- "... Yes, That's right, the bathroom." - Starbuck agreed - "You know, when a girl has to go, she has to go..."

The Admiral raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced, and Lee mouthed silently a "Don't be stupid" to his CAG... Roslin just observed as the two pilots, with very friendly and suspect smiles , being very polite and friendly with each other as they left the room. Adama looked at Warryk, both men knowing exactly how much trouble those two could get into, and the Commander, looking at Kane, said;

- "Go keep an eye on them. Make sure they don't blow up the ship." - Jann said.

- "I better go, Commander." - Leela said, raising from his chair.

Warryk nodded and his XO in approval

- "I better go too, before Starbuck throw that Boomer out of the airlock." - Tigh said.

Amada nodded to his XO...

Tigh and Leela bumped on each other in the corridor, an after a awkward moment trying to figure it out who would go out first, finally Leela took a step back and made a gesture to Tigh to go first.

- "Lady, You go first." - Saul said - "I made a habit of never giving my back to a Cylon."

Leela looked at Tigh seriously considering the possibility of strangle him, just a bit, before she marched out of the room. Tigh proceed after her... Lee and Kaleb turned back to Roslin, visibly embarrassed by the scene they just witnessed. Adama didn't really care much, just giving a discreet nod in disapproval, as Warryk sighed and ran his palm on his face, receiving the supporting pat on the shoulder from Helena. Kane and Roslin just smiled, amused...

- - "Ok, that was interesting." - Roslin said, trying no to laugh. - "Now, Your Highness, why don't you continue from were we stopped.?"

**End of Chapter.**


	9. ACT IX: Catfight

Greetings, everyone!

Here we are in the Ninth Act of this journey, still in the long day of the last Quorum Meeting.

Its not over, but it will be soon, just bear with me on that...

**darkfinder:** Sharon future-Mrs. Agathon will show up soon, and that offer will be made...

**EvilTheLast**: The Virgon factor will be fully dealt with on the next chapter. it was just too much stuff to put on this one chapter.

**Just a Crazy-Man: **if you found the last chapter funny, read this one...

**Nedy Rahn: **Thanks for the review, and for the compliment. The main reason why you find mistakes is because my mind doesn't register them after hours of writing, as the eyes don't see what is written but the idea that was behind the words... As I try to post them soon after I finish writing(and before I change my mind about something and have to start all over again), the chapters are bound to have a few mistakes, but I try to correct them as I go back and re-read the chapters, and if you see any mistakes, just point it out and I will go back and correct.

Now, lets continue with the Saga of the BSG96 _Pacifica_ and its Fleet:

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

H.R.H Princess Helena Xander Alexandra-Knossus

Jr. Lieutenant Sharon "Isis" Eight (Pilot)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, "Downloaded" to "Lay Down Your Burdens".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act IX – Catfight**

[Day 258 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.115 Humans, 735 Cylons]

[Colonial One]

[Presidential Office]

- "... after my mother abdicated her position in the succession line, she moved with us to Canceron." - **Helena Xander Knossus** explained - "My father had lived in Canceron since his family had moved from Tauron, so we took Canceron as our home, but that doesn't mean that I was not aware of my heritage and the responsibilities that came with it."

- "I understand that, Your Highness, but still, you didn't reveal your identity willingly an the only reason why we are having this conversation is because someone accidentally exposed your true identity." - **Laura Roslin** replied - "And now I have 3000 Virgons on the mall in _Cloud Nine_ begging for you presence. Do you know that Mr Bagot's office as been flooded with calls from Virgons demanding your immediate relocation to our fleet and desiring to have you enthroned as queen?"

- "First of all, Madam President, let me make one thing clear." - Helena spoke - "_Pacifica_ is my fleet, and that's not about to change. And second, I will go to my people, as is my responsibility and my call."

- "And then what?" - **Bill Adama** suddenly asked, breaking his silence - "What do you intend to do, what do you have to say to them?"

- "First, Admiral, I intend to hear them, talk to them, and them, I will speak." - Helena replied - "As to what I will speak, that will depend on what I hear, plus the fact that I'm not abandoning _Pacifica_."

Besides the Admiral, **Lee Adama** brought up the one point that apparently both Laura or his dad were avoiding:

- "If you are not considering move to our fleet, what will happen when the Virgons decide to move to your fleet?" - Lee asked, and as he got everybody's attention, he added - "It is bound to happen that at least some of the Virgons will want to follow you back to _Pacifica_."

Helena looked at her Commander, and **Jann Warryk** took of his glasses, absently examining as he asked:

- "Will they be allowed to leave this fleet?" - Warryk asked, looking at Adama and Roslin.

Laura and Bill looked at each other, considering the question, and Adama said:

- "Provided that they will be well taken care, and provided for, and having each man and woman that want to move to _Pacifica_ providing their intent in writing, then, I have no problem with that." - Adama replied.

- "Those conditions would have to be verified by government inspectors, of course." - Laura added.

- "Anyone is allowed in our fleet, granted that they abide by the rules and beliefs that we all live for." - Warryk replied.

_Belief_ was the keyword that triggered the immediate response by Roslin:

- "By belief, you mean, that all of them have to be indoctrinated into your Monad cult?" - Laura asked.

- "No, Madam President. We have worshipers of your so called _gods _in our fleet as well." - Warryk replied - "I'm not forcing my faith down their throats, if that's what you insinuating."

- "There is a precedent for that, if you remember the STO and their acts of aggression." - Laura replied.

Helena and Kane looked at Warryk, as he had a dark expression on his face that meant danger...

- "I do a lot more than remember, Madam President. I'm a Soldier of the One True God, and as such, I can tell you that we left the old, violent ways behind." - Warryk said - "The acts of terrorism that my predecessors performed did nothing to spurge the immorality and decadence of the Colonial Society at that time. The faith and willingness of our soldiers were used by megalomaniac leaders that forgot the basics about God. The same basics that the Cylons chose to ignore when they attacked us."

- "What are you trying to say, Commander?" - Adama asked, not willing to listen to a speech.

- "What I'm saying, Admiral, is that we learned our lesson." - Warryk replied - "People in my fleet is free to exercise their faith, as long as they respect others. And any ship joining us will receive upgrades in the form of cylon technology and will have a crew of 2 to 5 Cylons to operate their systems. These terms are not negotiable and I will make sure that no one asks you to transfer out of you command without first making sure that they will comply by our rules."

The Admiral exchanged a quick look with Lee, both Adamas bitterly aware of the implications in that statement, and then he turned back:

- "What kind of technology exactly are we talking here?" - Adama asked.

For that, **Leoben Kane Two** raised his arm, and after being acknowledged, he explained:

- "It depends, Admiral, on the type of the ship, but we have at least two standard modules that are common in all ships; a navigation module, and a point defense turret for defensive purposes." - Kane started - "For a ship like the _Virga_, for example, I would recommend a navigation module, a few turrets, a communication module and a hull refit with the standard Cylon technorganic composite that would strengthen the entire superstructure and would make the communication module more effective and responsive."

- "What keep the other Cylons to use these upgrades to take over the ship systems and destroy it or jump it away from your reach, Mr. Kane?" - Lee asked.

- "That, Commander, would be the responsibility of our Hybrids." - Kane replied.

The confusion that was blatant on the faces of the Admiral, Commander Lee and the President made Jann step in:

- "Go ahead, Leoben, and explain what Hybrids are." - Warryk said.

- "Yes Sir. Hybrids are synthetic lifeforms, human in appearance, like myself, but they were design for a very specific function." - Kane said - "Hybrids in the Cylon armada are based on a early design, that was not meant to be fully humanoid. Our hybrids, however, are brothers and sisters that were saved from death, but never fully recuperated, and we linked them to the ships, making them the central nodes of the Datastream."

- "So, this hybrids are acting as regular computers?" - Laura asked.

- "That would be a very simplistic way to put it, and probably incorrect, as they retain a level of conscientiousness." - Helena said - "The Hybrids are the heart and minds that connect and regulate our systems, and make the fleet run in harmony."

Warryk got up from his chair, looking out the window, and added, absently:

- "And as individuals, they are fully loyal to us, in a level that the Basestar Hybrids are not. And that make them stronger than the other hybrids, thus rendering impossible for the Cylons to use that tactic." - Warryk said.

- "But you don't know that for sure." - Lee pointed out.

- "Actually, Commander, we do. They tried that three months ago, and backfired so badly on them that they almost lost a Basestars to us." - Helena responded - "It was a shame they self destruct. I would have had a blast tinkering with their systems."

The Admiral got up from his chair, as Warryk turned back to him. Kane and Helena got up as did Lee. President Roslin got off the desk:

- "Well, it seems that you have all planned out, Commander." - Adama said, not necessarily congratulating the younger officer.

- "Its sound a lot better than it plays out, Sir." - Warryk replied - "I just try to outhink the problems every step of the way, and sometimes, I get it right."

- "Mr. Kane, thank you for the explanation." - Lee said – "I'm pretty sure that Doctor Baltar appreciated the knowledge, right, doctor?"

**Gaius Baltar**, that seemed daydreaming (and he was, in fact), looked, with the crazed eyes of him, and being quickly to check his surroundings, said:

- "What? Oh, oh, absolutely, it was a very... enlightening, very helpful exposition and... that helped us understand better... the Cylon Technology." - Gaius said, finishing with his shaky smile and mannerisms - "Yes, that it."

Adama glanced at the Vice-President, not entirely convinced that he had really paid attention, and Laura and Lee just dismissed it as the eccentricities of the genius. Helena, Kane and Jann , however, knew better...

- "I must go and get ready." - Helena replied, looking at the clock on the wall - "I must be presentable for my fellow Virgons."

- "I will accompany you." - Kane volunteered in a heartbeat.

- "I will ready the Raptor." - **Kaleb Blackthorne**, another one that kept silent in his seat, said, getting up and leaving.

- "Good luck Your Highness." - Adama said, shaking her hand.

- "Yes, Good luck." - Lee said, also shaking her hand.

Helena turned to Roslin, that offered her hand, and said:

- "Its bound to be a mob there. I can ask for extra security, if you need." - The President said.

- "That won't be necessary, Madam President, but thank you." - Helena replied.

She turned around, with Kane gesturing for her to take the lead, and they moved out of the office. In the way out, however, they found the most bizarre scene, as they stopped and looked at **Saul Tight ** and **Leela Six**, his right eye spotting a bruising and a sleeve of his jacket ripped; her hair was messy and wet, and the rest of her uniform was completely soaked... Both of them had huge oily wet stains on their uniforms and didn't look very happy.

When Adama saw his XO, he exclaimed:

- "Colonel, what the heck?" - Adama asked.

- "Leela?" - Warryk said, surprised.

Both XO's exchanged quick glances, and stepped to the side, letting the three officials and the President with a full view of **Kara "Starbuck" Thrace** and **Sharon "Isis" Eight**.

- "Oh, my gods..." - Laura said, bringing her hands to cover her mouth, as she didn't know what to say, or if she should just laugh...

Both pilots were soaked, dripping on the floor, in their underwear, covered by their jackets. Starbuck had green paint on her hair green and yellow paints around on her body. Isis was chalk white, with the exception of her hair, that was light blue. The Lieutenant had "boomer" written on her forehead with marker, and the Captain, in a similar fashion, had "bitch" written in her face. The blonde also apparently was missing a front tooth, and Isis had her hand wrapped in bandage...

- - "Did we miss anything?" - Starbuck asked, with her usual shameless expression.

[Minutes before, outside the Presidential Office]

Kara Thrace left President Roslin's office decide to wipe the floor with Boomer's doppelganger. Sharon Isis had the exactly same idea about the Blonde Ace. They didn't do anything, as they thought to themselves that they were smart enough to get to some point far away from the Presidential Office to avoid trouble with their respective commanders.

Starbuck, going ahead, took the spiral stairwell to the lower floor, and Isis followed her, just expecting the right moment... And it came very quickly as Starbuck took a right turn, passing trough a revolving door, timing it just right to hit her fellow pilot square on her chest, knocking the wind out of her... Kara heard sound of the door hitting someone and the Cylon cursing, and that brought a smile to her face. Isis had a psychotic spark in her eyes as she passed the revolving door, walking hurriedly to catch up with the CAG.

Kara's smile dissolved as she stumbled, or better saying, was tripped and fell to the ground, rather pathetically... Isis passed trough with a vindicated smirk on her face... Starbuck growled and got up to her feet marching behind Sharon. The two pilots got side by side, walking hurriedly, none willing to give the upper hand to the other. They went down another set of stairs like that, making the few people around the corridor actually make way for them.

- "I gonna enjoy kicking you butt, Boomer." - Kara provoked.

- "Don't go back to Adama crying after I wipe the floor with your face." - Sharon replied.

Thrace's response was to give a bump her with her hip right when they were passing a open hatch to one of the storage rooms. The sound of things clanging to the ground with the Cylon's body was second in satisfaction only to the sound that came out of Sharon's mouth:

- "Outch! Bitch!" - Isis yelled, and in trying to get up, she knocked up some objects on top of her - "Outch! Damn it!"

Kara laughed with satisfaction as she proceeded walking, under the stare of one of the stewardess and a government bureaucrat. Thrace looked at them with her usual smile, a second before she reached another open hatch and it was unceremoniously tackled by Isis, both women disappearing through the open hatch on the opposite side. The bureaucrat and the stewardess looked at each other, confused...

As for Starbuck, she rolled on the ground, getting loose from Isis, as the Cylon landed on her feet. As the CAG got up, she looked at her adversary with a mix of expectation and pure joy:

- "Oh, you just earned yourself a academy style beatdown, Boomer." - She said, unbuttoning her jacket.

- "The name is Isis, and I will tattoo that on your forehead so that you remember me every time that look in the mirror." - Isis said, also taking of her jacket.

Starbuck replied with action, punching Isis, that received the jab, and blocked the other two punches, before landing a crossing, making the blonde pilot stumble and used the opening to deliver a frontal kick that threw Kara against a storage shelve, that went down with the blonde. Isis approached, as she listened to Starbuck's groaning and moaning, and she grew worried, believing that he had hit her too hard. She wanted to teach her a lesson, not to really hurt her:

- "Huh, Starbuck?" - Isis called her. - "Hey, are you alright?"

Isis received a loud moaning in response and immediately got besides the Captain:

- "Frakk, I'm sorry, Starbuck." - She said, as the tried to help her up on her feet - "I though you could take that kick, I didn't.."

Sharon didn't have time to finish her sentence, as Kara turned to her with a grin and a canister in her hand. Before Isis could react, she received the canister in her face with a loud '_Bong_'. While Isis tried to regain her bearings, Kara kicked her from the ground, making the lieutenant fall on her back...

- "I'm a lot tougher than you think." - Starbuck replied, jumping on her adversary.

Starbuck got on top of Isis, using her legs to hold her arms down and with the psychotic look on her face, she said with a wide grin:

- "Now, Lets tag you..." - Kara said, revealing on her other hand a black marker.

Isis groaned, as she felt the tip of the marker run on her head, and after a few seconds, she was recuperating..

- "Now... no one will mistake you, Boomer." - Starbuck said, proud of her work.

- "I said..." - Isis started, gathering up all her strength

- "Uh-oh!" - Kara said, as she suddenly felt her whole body move.

- "My name... is ISIS!" - Sharon yelled, throwing her opponent up and with her feet kicking her away...

Starbuck flew through a open passage to another room, and Isis, getting up, looked for some reflective surface... she looked in horror as she saw BOOMER written on her skin...

- "Bitch, I'm gonna make you pay for that!" - Isis declared.

On the other room, Kara felt the pain in every muscle of her back, and noticed too late as Isis got on top of her, grabbing her by her clothes and punching her 1, 2, 3 times, in a fit of rage... Kara became numb for a moment, as Isis looked around, and seeing where they were, she smirked...

[At the same time, in a different level]

- "Where the Frakk are they?" - Saul Tigh asked, in frustration.

- "How the hell should I know?" - Leela Six asked - "That is my first time in this ship! I told you to take the lead."

Tigh looked at the Captain with his usual intimidating glance, but the was unfazed. After a brief staring contest, they both turned away and he said:

- "We keep going to the end of the ship and take the stair there." - Saul said. - "This time, I take the lead, or Gods knows where you will get us."

Leela opened her mouth and closed again, outraged with the comment, but she decided just to follow the Colonel...

[Down two levels...]

Kara Thrace felt _sticky_. She opened her eyes, after having blacked out for a few seconds, and the first thing she saw was yellow. Bright yellow.. and green.

- "What the frakk...?" - Starbuck said, getting on her feet, she looked at her hands, and her arms, and then at the rest of her body... she was half yellow and half green now.

Looking in the reflection of the metal, she also saw green paint in her hair, and something half covered in her forehead. She grabbed a rag, and took off the painting from her face, and then saw the word BITCH written in her forehead... Immediately she looked around for Sharon, and found her trying to wash the written word in her forehead...

Grabbing a broomstick she found, Kara marched against the Cylon. Isis noticed the attack in a spare second moving her head away from the path of the makeshift weapon.

- "I'm gonna frakk you so bad that not even with resurrection you will look the same again!" - Kara promised

"You will wish you had resurrection after I finish with you!" - Sharon replied.

Kara swung repeatedly the stick against Isis, that dodged the attacks jumping, rolling and kicking Starbuck away. but she didn't anticipate the swing hitting one of the shelves, and when she looked the big container turning, she could just cover her head...

Starbuck fell on her butt, and saw as a cascade of white fell on her fellow pilot. Isis got up, completely covered in white paint, and Kara, not to let the job end there, grabbed the closest bucket and dumped on Isis head, the contents and the bucket. The blonde pilot panted, ans she inclined herself and got her hands on her knees..

- "... That will teach you... not to mess with a Thrace." - Kara said.

Isis brought her two hands to the Bucket, and ripped it of as if it was paper. Starbuck saw the angry look on the now blue headed Sharon, and got up on her feet, making her escape before she got to her.

Starbuck kept running, trying to tire her opponent, as she went down another flight of stairs to the main cargo deck... what she wasn't expecting was to find a bunch of civilians that were not normally there...

- "Starbuck!" - Isis yelled, in hot pursuit.

- "Oh, Frakk!" - Thrace cursed, moving around the crowd.

Kara made her way around the crowd, as she saw Isis coming down the stairs...

- "Stop running, you bitch!" - Isis screamed, as she ran after her.

Both women crossed the deck, under the curious watch of the civilians, Isis jumped on Starbuck, and both women hit a barrel that broke and spilled liquid on the floor, making it slippery. They both slid and fell to the ground, but didn't stop fighting. However, as they were all covered in paint and oil, they couldn't keep a grip on each other... Kara tried to put Sharon on a lock, but the cylon just slip through her grip. The Captain then grabbed her by the belt, using it as a anchor so that she could pound the lieutenant. Isis tried to defend herself, without much success, and in a last effort, she unbuckled her belt, crawling away from her assailant, as Kara kept trying to pull her under her grip, but she ended up only with the pants on her hands...

- "Come back here, Bimbo!" - Kara yelled, as she used the pants as a whip against Sharon.

Isis grabbed the offending pants, and pulled Starbuck to her, making the blonde fall foward. Then she grabbed her by her leg. The Captain tried to kick her repeatedly, and got lucky in one moment, hitting Sharon in the face. The lieutenant stumbled back, and Starbuck kicked her twice more, before the Isis got a hold of her leg. As the blonde kicked and screamed, she managed to get free of the iron grip of the Cylon, at the expense of her ruined pants, that ripped up to the tights...

The crowd, out of boredom, started to cheer to the fight, attracting the attention among others, of Colonel Tigh and Captain Six, that were just coming down the stairs, after having found the trail of destruction left by the two pilots... The two XO's made their way among the civilians to the front of the crowd...

- "Un-frakking-believable." - Leela said - "how did they manage to create this mess?"

- "Never underestimate Starbuck's talent for Chaos and destruction." - Saul replied, and as he saw a guy collecting bets, he added - "and gambling..."

Leela looked at the man that was shouting to the civilians asking for more bets, and said:

- "No for long." - The Captain declared, with authority.

She marched to the betting man and said:

- "Return the money to these people, and get out of here. This spectacle is over." - Leela said.

Some of the gamblers didn't react well, and booed her. The betting collector looked at her with contempt, and one of the gamblers them shoved her a bit, complaining about not wanting to loose. Saul intervened immediately, shoving the guy back. He resisted, grabbing his sleeve, and ripping it of as he felt on the ground.

- "Frakk, my uniform!" - Tigh complained.

When he turned around, he just saw the fist flying against him, hitting his face square in the eye.

- "Colonel!" - Leela exclaimed, as she saw Tigh being hit.

She grabbed the assailant, and with her superior strength, threw him far enough to discourage any more attempts of violence. As some of them finally recognized her as the Cylon XO of _Pacifica_, they took a step back, and Leela knelt besides Tigh:

- "Colonel, are you alright?" - She asked.

- "Godsdammit!" - Tigh complained, feeling the pain in his eye. - "Yeah, I'm ok."

- "You stay here, I'm gonna put an end to this madness." - Leela said.

Saul, obviously didn't stay put. he looked around, trying to find something to stop the two fighting pilots...

On the ground, Starbuck and Isis kept fighting, still under the whistles and applause of some of the male population, as Leela marched to them. The Second in Command of the Second Fleet was not happy with the situation, that was not good for their public image and for the integrity of the Military Command in both fleets...

Her stride didn't last long, though, as she stepped on the wet surface, and slid rather pathetically, falling on her butt besides the two pilots... in a desperate effort to try to hold to something, she grabbed Thrace's arm, as the CAG had just managed to get up, making the pilot fall over the XO...

- "FRAKK!" - Leela cursed as she hit the floor and felt the weight of Thrace over her.

- "Captain?" - Kara exclaimed in surprise...

Isis, that had also gotten up looked at her XO, a second both blondes were hit by a heavy stream of water that made them roll on the floor. The Cylon lieutenant looked confused for a second, before she was hit by said stream...

Saul Tigh kept the stream on for a moment, washing away the oil in the floor and then turned it of, walking toward the three women... Isis got up in confusion, as did Starbuck... Leela coughed it up a bit, having being hit right in the face by the water, and she was the last one to recuperate...

- "You two are in a ocean of trouble." - Saul said, angry, and looking at his fellow XO, that was on her knees, he asked - "Are you alright?"

- "cough, cough... W-what..what the hell, Colonel?" - Leela asked, looking at the older man.

- "I saved your back. This crazy woman was attacking you..." - Saul replied, though he was not exactly sure of what he was saying. - "I saw her jumping down on you..."

- "I didn't jump on her!" - Kara said, outraged.

- "My hair..." - Leela said, grabbing the soaked strands in her face - "My clothes... AAAAAARGH!"

Tigh and Kara took a step back as the Captain screamed in rage. Isis swallowed in worry, as she knew that this was not a good sign...

- "We're so frakked.." - Isis said the prophetic words...

[Back at the Presidential Office, present time]

Lee Adama felt his blood pressure skyrocket...

- "Should I even bother to ask or just throw you in the brig?" - Lee asked, almost loosing it.

- "What makes you think that it was not self defense?" - Kara asked lying trough her teeth, literally.

Lee gave her a glance that made sure that he wasn't buying that bullshit. Isis looked at Warryk with a smile and said with the enthusiasm of a schoolgirl:

- "Can I go to the brig? Can I go to the Brig?" - Isis asked, making Starbuck immediately look at her.

Warryk took a deep breath, and said:

- "If you think that I'm going to let you out that easy, then you must have hit your pretty little head very hard." - The Commander said.

Immediately Isis deflated in defeat, and Lee suddenly looked very interested at the _Pacifica's_ CO, much to Starbuck's worry.

- "Ok, ok, I take the brig..." - Kara said.

- "Not so fast, Captain..." - Lee said, with an evil smile - "Now, Commander Warryk, what exactly is the alternative that makes the brig so attractive to Lieutenant Isis?"

Warryk looked at his fellow Commander with a smile that made all kinds of alerts ring on Kara's mind... She had a bad feeling about that. The fact that the Admiral gave Warryk his full attention made it even worse... She palled as Jann Warryk started to explain his model of _disciplinary punishment_...

**End of Act**


	10. ACT X: Better Choices

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

H.R.H Princess Helena Xander Alexandra-Knossus

Centurion Sargent Aton

Doctor Alexys Whitewood (Head Scientist)

Doctor Jason Zhimm (CMD)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, "Downloaded" to "Lay Down Your Burdens".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act X – Better Choices**

[Day 258 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.115 Humans, 737 Cylons]

[Cloud Nine]

[Garden Mall]

Since the early years of her childhood, **Helena Xander Knossus** was told stories about the people and history of Virgon. Her mother always told her those stories, that told the tales of the Virgon people, nobles and commoners alike, and how through sacrifice, courage and distinction, they rose to the occasion and made history. Helena always perceived those stories more as moral teachings than veracity, but today, in the green garden of the Luxury Liner _Cloud Nine_, she had changed her opinion, and more than that, she felt humbled...

She didn't know how long she had been there, and it didn't really matter, as she kept greeting, talking, being blessed and loved by the Virgons, that different from President Roslin and the press, didn't jugde her, not by her decision to keep her true identity hidden up to that moment, or the fact that she was clearly in a relationship with a Cylon...

They were happy just to have her there, at that moment, alive and well. And they came to her with joy, smiles and adoration, as she sat in a recamier in the makeshift throne chamber, welcoming her people, letting them look at her, touch her, listening to their stories. She expected complaints or aid solicitations, but they just kept telling her how wonderful it was that she was alive and well and how grateful they were that she was there with them. It brought tears to the Princess eyes when people ho had lost so much more than her paid their respects for the lost of the Royal Family. She should be the one paying respects, telling each and everyone of them how much of a bless it was that they were alive...

Besides her, **Leoben Kane** stood vigilant all that time. Her beloved Cylon Lieutenant was the portrait of serenity in those hours, silently and discreetly overseeing the security detachment and the harmonious flow of the line of Virgons that entered and exited the chamber. He was quick to lend her handkerchief when her eyes glistened, but never being inappropriate or too close. Helena was sure that some other Model Two lived in Virgon, and maybe even served in the Royal Palace, but Kane had not, but one could not tell that by his exemplar behavior.

When **Playa Palacios** tried to ask her questions, Kane was there, directing her to the Aide officer of _Pacifica_, that handled the press and anything other than the civilians. When a man in grieve, one of the rare ones that she saw that day in the garden, lost the little emotional control and started to cry, it was Leoben that helped him to his feet, got him a seat and assured him that his turn to talk with the Princess was reserved, and that he could take the time to collect himself.

When they crowd was appeased, Helena went on to the grand gazebo on the garden and spoke to them. It wasn't long, but she had to address some of the pleads of the Virgons. As she had stated before, she told them that she was not abandoning _Pacifica_, news that were received with sadness by the crowd. She was asked then publicly by **Marshal Bagot**, Virgon's representative in the Quorum, about the possibility of relocation of the Virgon population to _Pacifica_. Bagot did that for the benefit of the Virgons, as he and the other Virgon leaders had sat with the Princess and the _Pacifica's_ Fleet Commander, and they had laid down the plan for a future relocation of their people.

The fact that they would have Cylons among them didn't bother much once the Virgon ancestry of the Warryk family was brought to the table. The Cylons were a small price to pay to join a fleet that had a lot more room space, that had a member of the Royal Family among them, and had a Fleet Commander of Virgon ancestry. When **Jannus Warryk** took the stage, he was introduced as a descendent of a well known figure on Virgon recent years, for the benefit and appreciation of the crowd. Jann spoke to them, invoking the feats of great men and women in the Virgon history; he knew those stories almost as much as Helena did, and like her, he saw himself not as a Virgon, but as a Canceron, their adopted planet, the hot planet of beautiful beaches and islands that they called home. But the crowd didn't need to know that. They were perfectly happy as it was.

Helena loved to see her life-long friend perform. The bright smile, the charismatic persona that was eloquent and passionate, all that was the work of a true actor. She recognized God's gift to Jann when they were still kids, playing ball in the white sands in the beaches of Prommos. He wasn't the tallest or strongest of the kids, and he as prone to mischief as she was, but even in their most outrageous stunts, they never got into any real trouble, because the young Mister Warryk would talk them out of pretty much any kind of mess they made; they pretty much got away with murder...

Together, the Princess and the Commander played the crowd like a fine instrument, capitalizing on their hopes, on the pride of their tradition, on the desire for better living conditions and measure of normalcy, in the figure of a Ruler by birthright... In the end, it would be just a matter of formality, as Princess Helena of Virgon and Commander Warryk won the hearts and minds of the Virgons, exactly as they had done with the civilians they found along the way in their journey...

[Day 265 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.115 Humans, 737 Cylons]

[BSG75 - Galactica]

[Morning - Admiral's Quarters]

- "She's good." - **Lee Adama **said, as he heard the playback of Princess Helena's speech on the Wireless. - "She is really good."

Seated in his chair, Admiral **Bill Adama **nodded in agreement, as he had half of his attention turned to the papers on his desk:

- "That makes her dangerous. As dangerous as Warryk." - Adama said, going through the supply requests.

- "Do you think that this will create trouble among the fleet?" - Lee asked.

- "Not more than it already has." - Adama replied, as he signed the authorization - "The important thing is that the Quorum rejected the motion, and they will be keeping a wealthy distance from us."

- "Even if we lose 3000 Virgons..." - Lee said.

- "Even if we lose 3000 Virgons." - Adama confirmed, pausing to take a sip of his coffee.

They heard as the flywheel to the hatch opened, and saw **Saul Tigh** come in. the black spot on his eye was visible, but everything else was gone, as he was in a new uniform:

- "Our _neighbors_ are already outside the Fleet Space." - The Colonel reported, with a hint of sarcasm.

- "Hopefully this will placate the unrest among the civilians." - Lee replied.

- "It will, until the Virgon migration starts, that is..." - Adama interjected.

- "Are you really going to allow that to happen?" - Tigh asked, mildly outraged.

- "Try to keep them here against their wishes would cause civil unrest." - Lee said - "And we can actually ease the overcrowding in the fleet a bit, considering that there is one Virgon Ship only, maybe two at most that would move out."

- "We will keep a eye on them, Saul." - Adama said - "With the trade accord, we will slip our people among the temporary workers in their fleet, and gather intel."

Adama's plan made the whole thing sound a bit better for the Colonel, but he still didn't trust the _Cylon huggers_ from the Second Fleet. And speaking of them...

- "Are they still aboard?" - Lee asked.

- "Yes. They're still visiting _Boomer_." - Saul replied, with sarcasm - "Helo is also there."

- "I still can't believe that you allowed them to see her." - Lee stated.

The Admiral looked at his son for a moment, before going back to sign the day's orders:

- "I received four more requests of visitation from the Cylon Captain, and turned them all down until they attached it to a rescue plan for the people stranded in the Colonies." - Adama said - "But there was no real reason to not allow the Kid to see Sharon. Its not like she has some secret that the other Sharons already told him."

- "I could think of a dozen reasons right now." - Saul retorted.

- "We have a rescue mission coming, and we need all the help we can." - Adama replied - "Keep denying them access to her would just create more tension."

- "Its your call, Bill." - Tigh concluded, not voicing his dissatisfaction any further.

Lee didn't say anything either, as Adama kept going trough the paperwork.

[Cylon Holding Cell]

In _Galatica's _detention block built for Cylons, **Sharon Valerii** had very unusual visitors... She had by her side **Karl "Helo"Agathon**, the father of her unborn child and the man she loved. She was at the moment being examined by **Alexys Whitewood**, the chief scientist of _Pacifica. _The room had been furnished with a more comfortable bed, a couch and some other small furniture, gifts from her visitors...

Whitewood finished her scan of the fetus, and put away the ultrasound sensor. She took off her VR visor and said:

- "She's looks healthy." - The Doctor said. - "A bit smaller than average, but as we are in uncharted territory, I will take an educated guess and say that is not something to be overly worried about. Her development is progressing steadily."

- "That's great news." - Karl said, looking at Sharon. - "Really great news."

- "Yes, it is." - Sharon replied, feeling relieved - "Thank you, Doctor."

- "You're welcome, Missis Agathon." - Whitewood replied, as she started packing her equipment.

- "I'm not/we're not..." - Both Sharon and Karl started, and stopped mid-sentence as the Doctor looked at them:

- "Oh, my apologies. I assumed that you were married." - Alexys replied, with a polite smile.

From the couch, Jann Warryk, having **Leela Six** at his side, said:

- "A understandable mistake, Doctor." - Warryk said, with a friendly smirk - "After all, this couple is clearly in love and expecting a child. I don't see what you said as a mistake, but as a peek in the future."

Karl looked at the Commander, and said:

- "After we get Sharon out of confinement, marry her is on top of my list." - Agathon said.

- "Helo!" - Sharon exclaimed, feeling embarrassed.

- "Its true, you are the mother of my child and the woman I love. Of course I will marry you." - Agathon said, and with mock indignation, he joked - "Unless you have found someone else..."

Sharon's answer was to punch him on the arm, and say:

- "You dumb! How could you even ask that?" - She complained, even as she could not find in her to be mad at him...

She pulled him down by the collar, giving her answer in the form of a kiss. Besides them, Alexys smiled, satisfied that her false gaffe produced the desired effect. On the couch, Jann also smiled with satisfaction with the scene. Those two were extraordinarily blessed, and their child was a miracle of the One True God, the first of a new lineage, where Humans and Cylons would be united under God.

- "Aren't they adorable?" - Leela asked, with a ear-to-ear smile, of the likes that she only showed when she was really content.

It took self control for Warryk not to jump when he felt his XO's head on his shoulder, and her hooked on his arm... He stiffened a bit, trying not to show it, thought. The Captain kept oblivious, looking at the future Agathon couple looking at each other as if there was nothing else in the universe. Whitewood, however, was aware of more than just Karl and Sharon, as she gave a pointed critical look at Jann.

Warryk looked a bit alarmed at the stern glance of the redhead doctor, and he knew that he would be properly chewed off by her at the earliest opportunity. As the Commander was obviously unable or unwilling to make the inappropriate Captain Leela behave, she suddenly got up, rather loudly, breaking the reverie o the three individuals:

- "Well then!" - Alexys said, with a smile, a she saw Leela almost jump. - "I shall pay a visit to Doctor Cottle and discuss the monitoring of your pregnancy."

- "Once again, Thank you, Doctor Whitewood." - Sharon replied, offering her hand

- "Please, my mother was Doctor Whitewood." - Alexys replied, shaking her hand- "You can call me Alexys."

- "Thank you, Doctor." - Karl said, also extending his hand.

Alexys shook his and, and turning to Warryk, she said:

- "I will see you in the raptor, Commander, Captain." - The doctor said.

- "Thank you, Doc." - Leela replied.

Jann simply nodded, and as Leela turned her head, Alexys made a sign pointing at her eyes and at him... The Commander sighed as the redhead left, already imagining the argument that he was going to have with the fiery scientist.

- "Well, I should go ahead and talk to you about my official reason to this visit." - Warryk said - "I'm sure that you must be feeling tired."

- "Not so much. I really don't have a busy schedule right now." - Sharon joked.

- "Even so." - Leela retorted. - "We came here to offer you both a place on _Pacifica_."

Sharon gave a knowing glance at Karl. Ever since became common knowledge that _Pacifica_ was a mixed fleet of Cylons and Humans, Sharon imagined that a offer like that would come. As the request for visits And she had already discussed with Helo about all the obstacles that they would have to leave _Galactica_:

- "Would the Admiral release me?" - Sharon asked.

- "Do not concern yourself with Admiral Adama." - Warryk replied - "That will be my job."

- "And what about President Roslin." - Karl asked - "She's is less open minded than the Admiral."

- "And she's a politician running for re-election, and we have fifteen hundred voters in our fleet plus the Virgon voters, that would surely support the candidate that would be more inclined to help us." - Warryk said.

Sharon and Karl looked slightly surprised, and the Commander said:

- "I'm not saying that you will be released right away, but if you accept our offer, we will start working toward this goal right away." - Jann said

- "But, from the moment that you accept to be part of our fleet, then we will treat you as such, and will provide all the medical support necessary for you and your baby." - Leela said.

- "That sounds good, but I must ask why would you be willing to go through all this trouble for us." - Karl asked.

Jann got up from his seat, and looked at the window, specifically at the mirrored glass on the other side of the corridor:

- "Gentlemen, I believe that under article VIII of Colonization, all prisoners have the right to a modicum of privacy, even one that is monitored around the clock." - Warryk said - "So, kindly, turn off the recording devices, before I do it for you."

Sharon and Karl turned to look at the infamous monitoring station. Warryk looked at the camera, that still had the indicator light on. He put a hand in his pocket:

- "Five seconds, Gentlemen.. four, three, two..." - He took a object that looked like a fat pen from his pocket as the light didn't turn off. - "...one. Remember, I gave you the chance."

He pressed an hidden button, and a high-frequency low pitch sounded in the cell. Leela and Sharon winced as they had more sensitive ears than humans, but it wasn't unbearable for them. As for the equipment, and the officers that were listening, though, that wasn't the case.

Karl looked surprised as two screams were heard trough the glass. The indicator light ceased, and Jann turned the device off, throwing absently in the air before putting back in his pocket. Immediately two officers appeared, one of them with blood running from his ears, and they marched to the door.

- "That will take just a second." - Warryk said, as he walked to the door.

The officer that was bleeding opened the cell door and pointed at Warryk and Leela:

- "The two of you, Out!" - He said, angry.

- "Out, _Sir._" - Warryk said, breaking his tirade short - "And no, we're not leaving yet. Now, close that door and return to your post before I have you arrested for insubordination, breach of military protocol under Codes 75, 81 and 121 of the Colonial fleet, violation of privacy under the clause 44 the Civil Rights act and breach of patient-doctor confidentiality under the Article 7423 of the Colonial Law."

The angry officer suddenly looked confused and surprised.

- "After incarceration, we would be looking at what... 60, 90 days in the brig, right?" - Warryk asked, looking at Agathon

- "Err.. Right?" - Karl replied, quickly, but confused.

- "And that would be just on the military side. On the civil side, you could be easily looking at 1 to 2 years of incarceration, provided that you have no prior records." - Warryk said, taking joy as he saw the officer gulp - "Oh, you have a record! Well, then, that goes to 2 to 3 years of incarceration then..."

At that moment, Leela got up, and said:

- "Oh, but don't you worry. The labor conditions on _Pacifica_ would be not so severe as the Tauron system, as we follow the Virgon code." - Leela said.

- "P-Pacifica?" - The confused, and worried officer asked.

- "Oh, didn't you know? Under the new trade agreement the prison labor will be assigned for work on _Pacifica's_ Fleet from now on." - Leela said, with a sweet voice. - "I'm sure that you will get used to cleaning the Cannon barrels of our Raiders..."

The two officers looked at each other, and having achieved his objective, Warryk went for the killing:

- "Or, we could all forget that and you could leave..." - The Commander said with a friendly face, suddenly turning into a severe, intimidating expression - "Now."

The two officers cautiously took steps back, and closed the door, before rushing out of sight... Sharon looked with a wide grin and Karl had a relieved and surprised expression on his face.

- "That was awesome!" - She said.

- "Wow... you would be a lawyer, Commander." - Karl said

- "Please, call me Jann." - He replied - "And if any of those guys knew a a bit more of law, they would not be so easily fooled..."

- "You mean..." - Agathon asked, a bit skeptical...

- "I made half of it up, and the other half is not nearly as severe as I've made them sound." - The Commander revealed.

Warryk sat back on the couch, besides his XO, and Agathon sat on the bed besides Sharon. Leela then opened her briefcase, taking out a folder, as the Commander spoke:

- "You asked why we would go through all this trouble to help you." - Warryk started - "The simple answer would be _'Because is the right thing to do'_."

- "The right thing to do...?" - Sharon repeated, confused.

- "As you probably already know, our fleet has Cylons as well as Humans, and we put past our differences so that we could build a future together." - Leela said - "Like me, our brothers and sisters repented from our sins, when the people of _Pacifica_ showed us mercy and compassion even though we had attacked them. You made the same choice when you chose love above your orders."

- "Love is God's greatest gift for his children. And when I look at the two of you, I see love." - Jann said - "Love worth cherishing and protecting, and that is what I will do, if you give me the opportunity."

Sharon looked at Karl, and instinctively she hugged her womb. After all the hardship they went through that sounded too good to be true, and given the misdirection that these newcomers had used in the few days that they were around the Fleet, she didn't believe that it was real, even though a part of her wished that...

- "That's a wonderful offer, but..." - Sharon started, and she was interrupted..

- "...but it sounds too good to be true." - Warryk replied

As Sharon nodded, he lowered his head, with a amused smile:

- "That's human nature, Sharon." - Warryk said - "Not to trust people, the fear of opening oneself to others and be deceived, betrayed and hurt. Your heart wants to accept, but your mind is afraid."

The expression on Sharon's face was to Leela a clear sign that The Commander had struck the point. And now, he was going for the killing:

- "I can't decide for you, Sharon and Karl. This decision has to come from both of you. And it requires a leap of faith." - Jann said - "It requires to believe that there is still good in people, that what seems to be too good to be true are in fact true sometimes. It requires you both to believe that the One True God loves you, and has a plan to give you both and this unborn child hope and a future, and that we are instruments of God in this plan."

Karl felt Sharon's grip on his hand tight a bit, and he could see in her eyes that she was struggling, but the words he just heard made him decide. Karl Agathon lived by a higher moral standard than most. That was the only way he knew how to live. He believed in taking the higher road, and for him, the choice was clear.

- "We accepted." - Karl declared.

- "Helo?" - Sharon asked, surprised.

- "We already live by faith, Sharon." - Agathon said, taking her two hands on his, and looking in her eyes - "We came to _Galactica_ with faith that others would look beyond the Cylon and seeing the woman I fell in love with. We live in faith that by doing what is right, the Admiral would trust us. If we have a chance to get you out of this cell and raise our child the way we dreamed, then that's worth a shot to me."

Sharon felt the glistening in her eyes. She saw the reassuring smile on Karl's face, the smile full of hope, dreams and love that was the sole thing that kept her sane and comforted in the worst days in that cell. She nodded in agreement, and turned to Warryk:

- "Where do we sign?" - Sharon asked.

[Minutes later – in route to the hangar deck]

Leela Six was not showing, but in the inside she was a jumping of joy. As they marched trough the corridors, the couple of marines charged with escorting them were having a hard time keeping up with them, as Jann Warryk was a man on a crusade. Sharon and Karl had accepted their offer. That was the easiest part of their operation, in her view. Jann disagreed with her. He considered gaining their trust the hardest part. She could only imagine what he would do now.

- "Leela, get in contact with the Princess. Her Highness should be present to what comes next." - Warryk said, and stopping abruptly, he looked at her - "And get me Ms. Biers."

He was going to play dirty. She knew that now. And she couldn't help but love him more when he seemed determined like that. Leela Six observed as her Commander parted ways, marching followed his two escorts. She turned to her own escorts and with a brief nod, they led her to the hangar bay.

[_Pacifica _Fleet - Passenger Liner Gemenon 1701]

The _Gemenon Liner 1701_ was the main ship of the Fleet's Red Group, the only of the four groups of non-military ships that was predominately Cylon. Not that humans didn't live among them, but they were the minority in these ships. So, it was no coincidence that upon her arrival in the Fleet, **D'Anna Biers** had chosen this ship to live. There, she could also keep tabs on her fellow refugee, **Gina Inviere**. She was still in suicide watch in the medical bay on _Cadmus_, the fleet's hospital ship, but Doctor's Zhimm was confident that the therapy would be effective in working on her traumatic experiences. D'Anna still felt a bit guilty for not seeing that her sister was so fragile and psychologically traumatized that she was planning to kill herself.

She was projecting, the innate ability of all Cylons to interact and exist in a virtual reality, what would also give them access to several locations in the fleet. D'Anna's mind was on _Cadmus_, as she watched Gina's therapy behind a virtual wall. The Six could not see or hear her, as the simulation had been designed. D'Anna was still very impressed with the mastery of VR by these humans, as that was a technology that had been abandoned and outlawed since the first Cylon War. Their coding and technology matrix were as good as the one that the Cylons used, and according to her brothers and sisters she met aboard _Pacifica_, they already had that before they took the _plagued_ aboard. That just made the reporter even more curious at to exactly who were these humans.

Her musings were interrupted as Leela, the Six that was Second in Command of the Fleet, appeared besides her, in the observation booth.

- "Hello, Miss Biers." - Leela greeted

- "Captain." - D'Anna replied. - "Doctor Zhimm is conducting another session with Gina."

Leela looked at her sister Six and the young, brilliant doctor besides her in the therapy room. And to think that she got that close to commit an unspeakable sin:

- "How is she doing?" - Leela asked, in a soft tone.

- "She's still in suicide watch, but she seems to be improving." - D'Anna said - "I'm still surprised with this human doctor knowledge our inner works."

- "After living among humans, you should not be that surprised." - Leela replied - "We are much more similar to them that most of us admit."

- "Specially the Ones." - D'Anna replied.

- "Specially them." - Leela replied.

D'Anna looked away from the therapy and looked at the Captain:

- "You didn't come here to ask about Gina, did you?" - Biers asked.

- "No, I didn't." - Leela said - "The Commander has called for you."

The mention of Commander Warryk made Biers stiffen a bit. She still felt intimidated by him, and fascinated...

- "So, it is time?" - D'Anna asked

- "That is for the Commander to decide." - Leela replied - "There is a shuttle waiting for you. Don't be late."

D'Anna observed as Leela disappeared, and she gave a last glance at Gina. To think that a week ago, she was trailing in a path of self-destruction...

[Seven Days Ago]

[Cloud Nine - _Demand Peace _Movement Secret Headquarters]

In the privacy of the suit that served as secret headquarters for the _Demand Peace _movement, Gina Inviere, the stranded Cylon Six fugitive from _Pegasus_ was having a private meeting with D'Anna Biers, the Cylon Three formerly posing as a reporter in the Fleet:

- "The security of the child is paramount." - D'Anna said.

- "I agree with you. But none of us can get to _Galactica_ now. They know our models, they know who we are." - Gina replied.

- "Can't we use some of these humans that you're associated with?" - D'Anna asked.

Gina looked at the names on her list on the board...

- "I don't have anyone that could get that close to the medical bay without cause suspicion." - Gina said.

- "And what if we create a diversion?" - D'Anna asked - "Perhaps an accident, something to draw their attention while we get the baby."

- "... That might be plausible..." - Gina said, looking at the chaos of paper on her table - "Maybe a docking accident... but I still have to find a way to explain to them why we are focusing on a baby. That will hard to..."

A knock on the door stopped both women on their track.

- "Are you expecting someone?" - D'Anna asked.

- "No, I'm not." - Gina said, grabbing two pistols from the drawer.

Inviere gave one of the guns to her sister and made a silent gesture for Biers to stay behind the stained glass, as she approached the door. She looked at the magic eye, and saw one of Jahee's activists on the door. She opened the door slightly, with her gun still ready, and she looked at the young man:

- "Where is Jahee? What are you doing here?" - Gina asked.

The young man, that looked slightly nervous, didn't even have time to talk, as he was pushed abruptly to the side. Gina instinctively tried to close the door, but a hand stopped her. Not just a hand, but a robotic hand. Inviere couldn't resist the strong force, and fell on her back as the door opened abruptly, revealing a Centurion, that had the colonial emblem on his armorplate.

D'Anna got out of the room, pistol in hand, pointing at the Centurion, that didn't react.

- "What the hell do you want?" D'Anna asked.

The Centurion didn't reply. He just stepped aside, revealing _Pacifica's _Fleet Commander, Jannus Warryk.

- "That's good enough, Aton. Thank you." - Warryk said

==_By Your Command.==- _**Aton** replied, saluting and leaving the room.

Gina and D'Anna saw as two humans stood guard at the door and the Commander the close it. He turned around, and seeing that the two Cylons still had their guns pointed at him, he raised one of his hands, to show a cylindrical device. The device hummed loud and emitted a low, greenish light

- "Stay were you are!" - D'Anna said - "And what the frakk is that?"

- "This, ladies, is a portable version of the mag-pulse that I used on that Basestar a week ago." - Jann said with a smirk - "I just cut your connection with the Resurrection Ship."

D'Anna looked at Gina in horror, as she really could not feel the instinctive connection, even with the Six that was only 3 feet from her...

- "Turn it off!" - D'Anna ordered, aiming the gun at Warryk with renewed intent.

- "It doesn't work like that. Its a time effect thing." - Warryk explained - "Now, please, but down your guns, and lets talk like civilized people."

Gina got up, and the two women exchanged glances again.

- "What do you want?" - Gina asked.

- "First of all, put down your guns, then, take a seat." - Warryk replied, a bit firmer. - "We have a great deal of things to talk."

As both women looked unsure, he gave a step ahead.

- "Stay where you are!" - D'Anna threatened him.

- "Or what?" - Warryk asked, giving another step.

- "I will shoot you!" - D'Anna replied.

- "No, you will not, because you know that the only thing keeping you alive and unharmed right here, right now, is me." - The Commander gave another step.

- "Damn you" - D'Anna gave a step back - "Stay back or I will shoot you, I swear to God!"

Warryk looked at the Three with a dark, severe expression.

- "Don't you dare swear to the One True God in vain, you insolent, ungrateful child!" - Warryk scolded her.

Both D'Anna and Gina were taken aback by the human's words. He touched his forehead with his forefinger and held his hand, bowing slightly with his eyes closed. They couldn't make what he was saying, but it was clear to them what he was doing... he was _praying_.

They lowered their guns slowly, confused and surprised, but as he opened his eyes abruptly, D'Anna raised her gun again. But she was once again taken by surprise was she suddenly found herself not in the suit on _Cloud Nine_, but in the ruins of a Cathedral. She looked to her side, and saw Gina there too, and she was as surprised as D'Anna to see the place...

She saw Warryk there, they both did. But he wasn't wearing the Colonial Uniform, he was wearing a black and white robe, with the infinity symbol on his chest... Was he walked towards her, she didn't say anything, and stepped back as he marched to her, with the same severe look on his face. She got her back against the column, with a frightened look in her face. Warryk put his chest against the barrel of her gun, facing her. When she didn't react, he put his hand over the hand on her gun, and took it from her.

He didn't even look at Gina when he extended his hand, waiting for her weapon. Invieri looked to frightened to refuse, as she gave him the pistol, with a shaky hand. Warryk took the guns, and threw them away, as he spoke:

- "If I had meant any harm to you, you both would be dead already." - Warryk said looking straight into her eyes.

- "W-what is this place? Why are we here?." - D'Anna asked, in a voice much less aggressive than before.

She gulped as he lowered his face to hers...

- "This is were God calls upon you." - Warryk replied, in a gentle tone and a low voice. - "This is were your subterfuges are useless, and you must face the truth."

D'Anna looked at Gina, that was hugging herself, looking away from them. She seemed... ashamed.

- "She's facing her truth, but is not your time yet." - Warryk said, as he looked to Invieri with compassion.

She looked in the Commander's eyes, and saw with a bit of relief as the hard expression was gone. He moved away, and suddenly as they were in the ruins, they found themselves back in the suit. D'Anna couldn't understand, as she saw Gina sit in the ground, hugging her knees, with tears in her eyes, crying softly...

- "Now, please sit." - Warryk said, not really asking.

Biers did as she was told, still looking confused as she saw the human knee down near Gina, and take her hands.

- "What's happening to her?" - D'Anna asked, receiving as answer the stern glance again. She kept quiet.

She couldn't exactly say what he spoke to her sister, but he seemed to be comforting her. Gina looked so fragile and helpless from that point of view, and D'Anna couldn't understand why, what made her even more afraid. She observed as the Commander took her into his arms, and getting up, walked to the door. Before he even got there, the door opened, and a Two, also in Colonial Uniform, entered. He gently received Inviere in his arms from the Commander and left, the Centurion closing the door behind him. She was now alone with him...

D'Anna looked at the guns on the floor, and for a second thought of making a run for them, but with a quick glance at the human she was dissuaded of the idea. He seemed to look straight trough her, into her soul. Warrik sat on the chair across from her, and for a moment didn't say anything, just looking at her, what made Biers uncomfortable. She felt relieved when she heard his voice:

- "Did you know that Gina was planning to kill herself?" - He wasked.

- "W-what?" - She replied, surprised and confused.

- "She was planning to kill herself." - He repeated - "She has been planning to do that ever since they tortured her on _Pegasus, _did she tell you about it?"

- "No, s-she didn't..." - D'Anna said.

- "She is terrified of being touched. Did you noticed how she always keep herself a bit too distant from everyone, even in a room with people around her?" - Warryk asked.

- "I thought... she was just reserved." - She said.

- "Have you ever seen a Six '_reserved_'? Or a Eight formal, or a Two pragmatic, or a Three shy?" - He asked, in a accusatory tone. - "Today, while you were plotting to kidnap Sharon's child, did you even try to touch her?"

- "No..." - she replied...

- "You have met with her several times since she escaped her captivity." - Warryk said - "You have plotted murders, sabotage, chaos and mistrust, but not even once, you took a moment to look at your sister."

- "How do you k..." - She spoke, to be abruptly cut by him

- "You relayed every single order that the One gave you, obediently as a lapdog, risking yourself, but not even once, you asked Gina how she was. As long as she did as ordered, that's all that mattered." - He said

- "Now, that's not true..." - D'Anna made a feeble attempt to defend herself

She almost jumped as he moved quickly from his chair, kneeling in front of her, his hands on top of hers in the armchairs, and his face inches from her:

- "I've met many Threes, D'Anna, but none as selfish and egotistical as you." - He replied.

D'Anna Biers was terrified, but even as her mind screamed to jump away from him, her body refused to obey. He was simply a human, and she could rip those hands that were gripping her hands against the chair. '_Frakk, his hands felt warm compared to her's that felt like ice right now_', she thought, much to her surprise.

- "I watched your documentary." - He said, in a low voice - "You made a excellent work on it. Maybe even a bit too much, beyond what your real orders were."

- "It had to be as real as possible." - She replied, in a murmur, as he was close enough to feel his breath... '_warm, with a hint of mint.'_

- "Had to be? Was that your orders from the One on _Galactica_?" - He asked, in a provocative tone - "Or it was your professional pride that drove you to make the best possible work you could?"

- "W-what do you want from me?" - She asked, her voice sounding shaky.

- "I want you to smarten up." - Warryk said, approaching her ear, whispering to her.- "I want you to stop being a pawn to someone who has lied to you and misled your brothers and sisters into sinning against God."

- "I don't understand..." - D'Anna replied, confused, and feeling the warmth of his skin touching her face

- "Of course not. They made sure that you wouldn't." - Warryk said, looking her in the eyes – "The same way that they made sure that you forget, and that the Centurions became submissive, and that your brothers and sisters kept thinking that they had some control over the decisions made."

- "But we do have..." - She started, but she was silenced, by his fingers touching her lips.

- "Like you thought you had the final vote in deciding for attacking the Colonies?" - He asked. - "Or like you are all forbidden to even mention the other Five Models?"

She looked at him, astonished, scared, and mildly aroused. It was with some disappointment that she saw him get up.

- "You are a reporter, D'Anna Biers. And I'm offering you a peek in the truth behind the curtains." - Warryk said

She looked at him, as he extended his hand, and said:

- "This is a much better choice than jettison yourself out or a airlock." - He said, with a smiled

- "I was actually thinking of taking some pills..." - She confessed - "I thought of getting high before downloading..."

- "There are things much more enjoyable and pleasurable that you can experience that doesn't cost your life..." - he said, and in a conspiratory tone, added - "But if you do need to get high, I'm sure that the Twos have something hidden somewhere in the fleet."

She smiled with the flirting tone and took his hand, getting up from the chair:

- "Good girl..." - He said - "Now lets go, before one of those nutcases get here."

- "What about the child?" - She asked. - "Roslin will not let her live."

- "We will deal with Laura Roslin when the time comes." - He said - "Sharon and her child will be protected."

- "And, what about Gina?" - She asked again

- "She will be alright. We will help her, you and I." - Warryk said.

They approached the door, that once again opened, and a group of officers stepped in as they left, dismantling the headquarters, going over like a tornado in the room, and as the Commander and Biers were out of view, two technicians, brought from the bedroom the grey case to Aton.

The red eye flashed as they opened the case and one of them asked:

- "Should we take the device also?"

- ==_Negative. Leave under a pile of clothes for them to find.==- _Aton replied.

They nodded in acknowledgment and proceeded to follow his orders, as the Centurion looked around, overseeing the operation.

**End of Act**


	11. Act XI: Higher Calling

Greetings, everyone.

It took a bit longer to finish this one because I had a lot of stuff going on and didn't want to leave a lot of sub-plots hanging (even thought i'm sure that I forgot some of them)

Now, let me address the reviews:

**EvilTheLast**: The chat between Baltar and Head Six will be very interesting indeed, but is not pertinent to this part of the story right now... And no, Gina is not going Boom... D'Anna will be in the fleet for now. if she remains, that I don't know yet. As for the _Demand Peace_, they are not _Cylon Huggers_, they're more in the line of _Surrender to Cylons and maybe they will let us live_... wait to see, the rescue will be a bit different this time...

**Nedy Rahn**: I think that Gina deserves some happiness, she suffered enough in the hands of Cain.

**darkfinder**: It was a catfight. if that will develop into something, I don't know, but remember, Starbuck prays to Afrodite... she's the Goddess of Love =D Helena is not a Cylon, and for the Helena/Kane being the only couple there, I really didn't think that far ahead, besides, I'm working on some pairings... now, about the projecting, the explanation is coming on the next chapter or so...

**Sable Cold**: Who doesn't love a good catfight?

**The Breeze**: Yes it was fun, it was a lot of fun...

**MaxNight**: that punishment is coming, and I can assure that you will love it LOL

**Just a Crazy-Man**: there is more to come...

**helenaklopes**: Se vc gostou até agora, espera pra ver o que vem pela frente, Amidala =D

BTW, Princess Helena of Knossus is a homage to my dear friend helenaklopes and also Wonder Woman (one of my favorite heroes from DC)

Now, lets continue...

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

H.R.H Princess Helena Xander Alexandra-Knossus

Jr. Lieutenant Sharon "Isis" Eight (Pilot)

Chief Officer Simon "Jaffah" Four (Hangar chief)

Shadow (Raider)

Doctor Alexys Whitewood (Head Scientist)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, "Downloaded" to "Lay Down Your Burdens".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act XI – Higher Calling**

[Day 265 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[3.115 Humans, 737 Cylons]

[BSG75 - _Galactica – _Conference Room]

One of the things that **Laura Roslin** had always prized in her life was her non-violent approach to all things. When her family died in a car accident, when she found out that she had been played by the President in the workers strike, when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, when the Colonies fell to the Cylon Attack, when she was put under arrest by then a mistrusting Commander Adama...

Even as things changed, and she gained a reputation for jettisoning Cylons infiltrators in the fleet out the airlock, even then, she still saw herself as non violent. Even when Tom Zarek, then Gaius Baltar became thorns in her side, even when she had the flashback of Baltar all mushy with the tall blonde Cylon, even then , she didn't consider violence... but like all other concepts in her life, Roslin would gladly revise her non-violence policy if she thought she had a real chance of jump over the table and tackle **Jannus Warryk** where he stood, throwing him to the ground so that she could she his life slowly fading from his eyes as she strangled him with her bare hands... if only they had chosen a smaller table...

Across the table from her, **Bill Adama ** kept listening, in silence, as Warryk kept exposing her plan to forge the death of Sharon's child, and keep her alive in secret in the fleet. He wasn't happy, she could tell, as he glanced at her once only, and had not even looked in her direction after that. She couldn't even try to tell him that it was all a lie; he knew her better than that, he knew her better than most, as she also knew him, and that was the reason why she kept the plan a secret from him. Bill Adama was a man of principles. She loved that about him, and she knew that he would struggle into separating a mother from her child, even if that mother was a Cylon.

Besides the Admiral, **Saul Tigh **was also listening. He was a war veteran, sympathetic to her cause, and he thought that just keeping a Cylon aboard the ship was already dangerous enough, and allowing her to stay with a cylon-human hybrid would be a risk too big to be made. He had voiced his opinion as soon as Warryk had revealed the plan. She would have to count on him to do damage control with the Admiral later...

**Lee Adama**, on the other side, would be a lot more difficult do deal with. He was an idealistic man, possibly like his father once was at that age. She also admired his principles and his courage, as he put himself on the line for her against his own father during Kobol. She trusted him, as much as she trusted Bill, but she also knew that he would never approve of her plan; like his father, the charming Commander _Apollo_ also failed to see the big picture... on his side, **Kara Thrace**, the Admiral's _"Daughter"_ looked disgusted by what she had heard; only further proof that the Adama's Ideals ran strong even beyond their own blood.

Laura felt bad looking at them and receiving the occasional glare as every new detail was revealed. But it was better to look at then than to look at **Sharon** and **Karl Agathon**. She actually expected the Cylon to try to attack her as the treacherous Warryk exposed her, but her reaction was the worse possible to Roslin: Sharon looked at her, with tears in her eyes, hugging her womb protectively, a picture that reminded her of her pregnant sister, on one night at the hospital, when they went trough the drama of a gestation complication. Sharon looked so much like her, and that made Laura deeply ashamed.

Lieutenant Agathon, on the other hand, was livid. Lee, Kara and the Cylon Lieutenant **Kane** **Two** from _Pacifica_ had to physically contain him, and even with the threat of arrest by the Admiral didn't subdue his revolt. It took Warryk's intervention to calm him, and by the quick exchange between them, it seemed clear to her where the Lieutenant's allegiance rested now. Laura didn't even bother to look to her other side, where Her Royal Highness **Helena Knossus** was seated, along with **Leela Six**, **Alexys Whitewood ** and, to her utter disgust, her vice-president and political opponent **Gaius Baltar**.

She exchanged some glances with **Tory Foster **and **Sherman Cottle**, her co-conspirator and her reluctant accomplice in the whole operation. Dr. Cottle didn't look up, as he was obviously ashamed of his part on all of that, but Tory was unapologetic, and kept her head raised up high. It was her who Laura was emulating as she also tried her best to look firm in her decision...

- "... You still failed to explain how this child is not a security risk to this fleet and what is left o humanity, Commander." - Tori kept her rebuttal of every single point brought up by the Commander - "This administration has a responsibility with the survival and preservation of the human as a species, and this child is a risk by any point of view that you might bring up."

- "Miss Foster, I find several attractive qualities on you, but your complete lack of morals is not one of them." - Warryk replied with sarcasm, and placing his hands on the podium, he inclined herself to make his point - "And I do believe that the administration that you serve presents a bigger threat to humanity than this unborn child. And fifteen hundred civilians in my fleet, that were lied, abandoned and left for dead by this administration would happily attest to that."

The Admiral finally decided that he had heard enough and intervened:

- "That's enough." - Adama declared.

The weight of his glance alone made Tory silent. Warryk also didn't continue his tirade, has it was clear to Roslin that he had achieved his objective... perhaps, if she used the chair as a step, she could jump longer...

- "You made your point clear, Commander." - Adama said, in a rasping tone - "Now, why don't you save us the time and present you proposal to resolve the problem?"

- "Right away, Sir." - Warryk replied, as he walked to where Leela was seated and got from her a number of folders.

The Commander presented Adama with a folder, then went to give each one seated on the table a copy. The Admiral got his glasses from his pocket, and putting them on, he opened the folder, reading its contents... The expressions of those who read what was written in the folders went from surprise, to disbelieve, to judgment, to anger.

- "Absolutely not." - Laura declared, loud and clear - "We are not handling a highly strategic asset to you, Mister. Not now, not ever."

- "Sharon is not an asset, she is a person_;_ a pregnant woman, whose child you have actively sought to harm, Madam President." - Helena replied, in a stern tone, and with a pointed look, she added. - "And the only reason why you didn't have Sharon abort the child is because you needed the fetus to _save your own life_."

- "And that may well be the _strategic asset_ you mentioned." - Warryk added - "After all, the child saved your life, but your cancer is not cured completely, so..."

A wave of guilty prevented Laura from formulating a proper answer. It was with a silent thanks to the gods that she saw Bill rise from his chair, as the Admiral intervened:

- "You are out of order, Commander." - Adama said, with a glance that clearly meant business - "Whatever are the president's reasons for her plan, they were not for her personal gain."

She observed as Warryk looked back at the Admiral. He had confronted him in the past, and it was only after his Cylon XO's intervention that he backed off. However, this time she was not likely to stop the impetuous _Pacifica's _CO...

- "Commander." - Helena spoke his name, giving the intervention that Roslin so longed for.

Warryk turned to the Princess, and she gave him a brief nod. It was clear that they both understood each other in a level that didn't required spoken words. The Fleet Commander bowed respectfully and turned to Adama:

- "Yes, sir." - Warryk acknowledged, and looking at Roslin, he retracted his accusation- "I withdrawn my last comment, Madam President. However, the repatriation motion stands. Both Sharon and Karl have requested membership in our Fleet and their request was dully processed and approved."

Laura rose from her chair, as Bill's heavenly intervention gave her a fighting spirit back, and with her two hands on the desk, she glared at the _Pacifica_'s CO:

- "This child is a hybrid of Cylons and Humans. To leave it with her Cylon mother is a security risk to this fleet and what is left of humanity" - Roslin spoke, in a severe tone.

- "Not _it_, Madam President. _She_ is a a girl, and I believe that her parents chose _Hera_ as her name." - Warryk replied. - "As an information source, Sharon is not that significant compared to the information that we already provided to the military command and the alleged security risk factor can be nullified by moving her out of the fleet."

- "I agree with him." - the surprising voice of Kara Thrace was heard.

All eyes were on the blonde ace, as she rose from her chair, and said:

- "We got the intel from _Pacifica_, and even with all the theatrics and everything, I believe that we are all on the same side." - Kara spoke - "And Sharon had at least four chances to betray us and she didn't. Se should at least be allowed to keep her child with her."

At the same time, the Commander and the Princess had a discreet smirk, as they knew that their objective had been achieved. For the _Galactica's_ people to argue with with them was one thing, but now they had made them argue among themselves. It was just a matter of time now...

[Hangar Deck]

In the hangar deck, another of the resupply run from _Pacifica_ had just arrived, and the deck crew, under the leadership of **Galen Tyrol** quickly got to work, unloading the crates from the shuttles. Like all other people in the _Galactica_ Fleet, they knew had reservations about the mixed fleet that was now their neighbors, but different from the rest of the fleet, they were exposed to the Cylons from _Pacifica_ in a much more intense way, as they had to deal with them every day in their supply runs. Initially, they would not even leave their ships, just waiting for the crew to perform the unload and loading operations, but soon, as the process was streamlined through _Galactica, _the volume increased and necessity took precedent over distrust, and the two crews started to interact. Tyrol was updating the inventory when **Kaleb Blackthorne** approached him

- "Excuse-me, Chief." - Kaled spoke

Tyrol looked at the CAG and saluted him, a salute that was returned quickly by the pilot:

- "At easy, Chief." - Blackthorne said.

- "What can I do for you, Captain?" - Galen asked.

- "As you surely know by now, Chief Xander now has another job..." - Kaleb started

- "... Princess Helena, yes, I know." - Galen replied, with a chuckle, he joked. - "I have to get a hold of her career officer. I wonder if he can get me a career transfer to President of the Colonies."

- "heheheh... I'm surprised that there aren't more transfer requests by some ambitious officers seeking a quick path up..." - Blackthorne replied

- "It probably all the _chrome_ around there that is keeping them away, sir." - Galen replied

- "Perhaps..." - Kaleb said, without being offended by the comment. - "but, anyway... I'm here to introduce you to our new Hangar Chief, that will be taking all the responsibilities from Her Highness from now on."

Galen observed as the CAG nodded to a big black guy, who Galen had recognized as a Cylon from the hearings at the Quorum and by the troubled identification from Specialist O'Neill... **Simon Jaffah Four** approached them, saluting. Kaleb saluted back, and Tyrol did the same, a bit more hesitant...

- "Chief Tyrol, this is Simon Jaffah, a Number Four and our new Hangar Chief." - Kaleb said.

- "Nice to meet you, Chief." - Jaffah said, offering his hand.

Galen took a second before accepting the gesture, and Blackthorne said:

- "Good, you now have been introduced, and I can go back to my work." - He said, turning around.

The two Hangar Chiefs observed in silence as the _Pacifica_ CAG walked away, and after a moment of awkward silence, Jaffah spoke:

- "Oh, this is the list you requested from Chief Xander." - Simon said, handing a clipboard to him

- "Oh, right. The Stealth Viper equipment." - Galen replied, looking at the information printed - "She had asked me permission to built some of them."

- "By what I saw from the Datastream, that was a incredible ship." - Jaffah commented - "To put to shame the guys at Scorpia Yards."

- "Well, thanks." - Galen said, liking the feeling of having his work appreciated - "This list sounds like right. Now, who's gonna build this?"

Simon looked around, to make sure that no one was close enough to hear, and then he leaned slightly to Tyrol:

- "Well, they don't want to advertise, since it might create problems with her people and our Assembly, but it will be Chief Xander, myself, Lieutenant Isis and the Commander." - Jaffah revealed.

- "I guess the Virgons are opposed to her getting her hands dirty now..." - Galen replied.

- "Some of them can be very conservative." - Simon replied.

- "Well, I wish her and you good look in this project." - Galen said - "It is a lot of fun to build this baby."

- "I'm sure it is, Chief." - Simon replied.

As Galen turned around, to keep working on the inventory, Simon stood there, still trying to find a way to get to the subject... It didn't take Galen more than a moment to notice that the Cylon had not left, and he said:

- "Is there anything else?" - Tyrol asked.

- "Actually, Chief, there is." - Simon said.

Galen noticed the glance of the Number Four directed to the side, and following the line of sight, he saw some of his knuckledraggers. The sight of one of them in particular was all it took for the Chief to connect the dots:

- "Its about Specialist O'Neill, isn't it?" - Tyrol asked.

- "Yes, it is." - Simon replied - "She's the widow of one of my brothers..."

- "Yes, I'm aware of that." - Tyrol said.

Galen noticed as the object of their attention glanced at them, and by her face, he could say that she was shocked to see the carbon copy of her dead husband in the deck...

[From across the Deck]

**Giana O'Neill** had not expected to see _him_ in the hangar that day. She had seen the copy of her dead husband walk into the Quorum Floor with a boy and a woman that day, and it almost made her faint. The Colonel had suspicions that Simon was a Cylon. Everyone had suspicions that Simon was a Cylon. Yet, she denied, she preferred to believe that he had a mental breakdown, that he had lost it and that was why he had killed himself. But herself didn't believe that. Her Simon was strong, he adored life, he would never take his own, unless he believed that by doing so he would be protecting others, protecting her and Jemmy.

She cried herself to sleep that day. Chief Tyrol was kind to her, he himself having experienced a similar experience with Boomer. It was hard explain to Jemmy that the man on the screen was not their Simon, it was hard to convince herself that he was not her Simon either. But they survived. Jemmy accepted the explanation that he was the twin brother of her step-daddy, and now, all that the girl asked was when she would see her new uncle; Gina dreaded the thought, and now, there he was, with the Chief, looking at her.

The thought of running occurred to Giana, as did the thought to get her wrench and hit the Cylon copy of her husband, but she did neither; she turned around, keeping herself busy with the gyroscope on the Viper she was working on. She could feel their presence behind her, but she didn't turn, until the Chief called her name:

- "Giana." - Tyrol said, in a soft tone.

- "Yes." - She turned, with defiance.

She felt her eyes burning, but she would not cry in front of _him_. She looked at him, he looked the same physically, but he was not her Simon. His eyes were the same color, but he didn't look at her the same. He had tattoo on his face (all of them had, it was like an identification mark on them), and he also wore an armband with the _infinity symbol_ of the Monad Church (like the rest of them).

- "This is ..." - Tyrol started to talk, to be interrupted by her

- "Simon. I know. I used to be married to one." - Giana replied, with a hint of revolt.

Galen looked at her with sympathy, and then looked at Jaffah.

- "Actually, Miss O'Neill, I go by the name Jaffah." - He replied. - "I am a brother of your late husband."

- "Did you know him?" - Giana asked - "Have you personally met him? Talked to him?"

- "Not in the sense that you expect." - Jaffah replied - "As brothers, we share some common traits, beyond the name and physical appearance, so, even though we have never met in life, He was my brother, and you're his widow."

Galen kept silent, as he didn't believe that it was his place to speak at that moment. He just stood besides Giana, was she spoke:

- "So, you came here to pay your respects?" - Giana asked.

- "That, and to offer the support of my family." - Jaffah replied. - "I'm also married, Miss O'Neill."

- "I know. I saw your _family_ on the wireless." - Giana said, with a hint of sarcasm. - "It is a beautiful boy..."

- "Thank you. He has his mother eyes." - Jaffah replied. - "If you or your daughter need anything, please, don't hesitate to contact me."

Giana felt that she would cry, and she turned around.

- "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Jaffah, but we a doing fine." - She replied, wiping the tears on her sleeve.

Tyrol put his hands on her shoulder, and looking at the Cylon, he made a gesture for him to leave. Jaffah nodded in agreement, and said:

- "If Simon knew that there was another option, a third option, I'm sure he would have taken. He loved you and your daughter very much." - Jaffah said - "I'm sorry that we couldn't have arrived a day sooner."

As he turned around, Giana looked over her shoulder, and replied.

- "Thank you, bot it would not make a difference." - She said, with sadness - "My husband airlocked himself 2 days before you arrived."

She observed as the Cylon put his head down, and started to walk away. She looked at Galen, that had that compassionate look in his face, and she gave him a sad smile. He was going to offer her to take a brake, when they both heard the voice of Jaffah:

- "I'm sorry, did you say _2 days before we arrived_?" - The Cylon asked.

[_Aquaria Comet_ Freighter]

After the disappearance of their leader, Gina, and the raid on their secret headquarters, the members of the Demand Peace movement decided not to leave _Cloud Nine_ and move to one of the other ships. In the _Aquaria Comet_, **Royan Jahee** re-organized their center of operations. He took extra precautions with the operation, since they found Arien's body in the recycling chamber. He was a good soldier, and Jahee would make whoever killed him pay dearly.

- "Sir, we found it." - One of the henchmen spoke.

- "Excellent." - Jahee spoke.

He walked the corridor from the room were he was to the adjacent deck. He saw a man and a women with the grey suitcase approaching. They stopped right in front of him, and opened the suitcase, revealing the nuclear warhead.

- "Was it damaged?" - Jahee asked.

- "No, Sir." - the woman replied.

- "We also found this, sir." - The man replied, showing him the ripped rag with blood.

Jahee grabbed the piece of fabric, that he recognized as being from Gina's blouse, and closing his fist around, he inquired:

- Did you find anything else?" - Royan asked.

Another man showed him the armband. Jahee glanced with a murderous expression:

- "Where did you find this?" - He asked.

- "It was on the maintenance tube near where we found the body." - the henchman responded.

That was all the proof that he needed. He made a gesture to the two with the nuclear device to close the suitcase, and nodding at another one of them, me moved to the next room. He looked to their prisoner, chained to the pole, beaten and bruised. He signaled to his lackey, and he threw water on the prisoner, waking him up. The guy instinctively tried to protect himself, to no avail. He looked frightfully to Jahee, that showed him the armband...

- "We found it, just like I said we would." - He said. - "Now, this is the last chance for you to come clean."

- "We didn't do anything!" - The prisoner screamed in desperation. - "I swear by the gods!"

Royan lowered his head, and turned around. He didn't pay attention to the desperate pleas of their prisoner, was one of the henchman pulled a gun and aimed at him. Not even the sound of the two bullets being fired brought any reaction to him. Jahee left the armband with the Symbol of Mars on the table, and looked at his board... The _Sons of Ares_ attacked them, and now it was the time to return the favor...

[BSG75 – _Galactica_ ]

[Hangar Deck]

Galen was worried. He was very close to freaking out and calling security. The only thing that was keeping him from doing it was Giana. She didn't understand either what the Simon from _Pacifica_ was babbling about, but she knew that he was serious, and she didn't protest as he was now dragging them to their ship. It was a bit bizarre to see him touch the Datastream, but he kept that to himself:

- "What exactly is that you trying to say to me " - Giana asked, confused.

- "Just wait a moment, please... I have to be sure..." - Jaffah said, looking at the screen where starcharts popped up - "... If there is a chance..."

Giana and Galen exchanged confused glances...

- "Heya, guys!" - a female voice called them from behind.

Tyrol turned to find the Sharon known as **Isis** behind them. O'Neill knew Boomer, so she recognized the Cylon copy, but the resemblance was merely facial... the Sharon in front of them had light blue hair, shorter, and her eyes were red, and it didn't look like it was from contact lenses...

- "Hey Galen, Giana... have you lost weight, chief?" - Isis asked in a casual tone.

- "What the frakk?" - Giana asked, surprised. - "Your hair..."

- "Oh, this? Well after the fight I had with Starbuck, she let my hair blue, and I kinda liked it." - Isis said, with a smile - "So, I changed my eyes to red to make contrast. What do you think?"

Galen and Giana looked at each other, and without much conviction, they nodded their heads, with small smiles on their faces.

- "That way no one will mistake me... There are many Sharons, but just one Isis..." - Isis replied with pride.

As Isis looked at the screen she looked confused, and said:

- "Hey, Big J, what are you doing?" - She asked.

- "I'm looking for the starcharts of the last sector we were in." - Jaffah replied.

- "Oh, that's easy. Let me have a go." - She said.

Jaffah stepped to the side, and Isis put her hand over his on the Datastream, and immediately she smiled brightly.

- "No way! Her husband is alive?" - Isis said.

- "WHAT?" - Giana and Galen exclaimed.

- "Frakk, Isis!" Jaffah cursed

Giana immediately grabbed Jaffah by the uniform, making him face her.

- "Simon is alive?" - Giana asked, a gleam of hope in her eyes.

- "Its a hunch... I didn't want to say anything before I made sure." - Jaffah confessed - "But my easily excitable sister here spilled the beans too soon"

- "Sorry." - Isis said, a bit ashamed.

- "Nevermind that." - Tyrol said - "What do you need to confirm if Giana's husband is alive or not?"

- "I need to verify the charts from the sector that this fleet was two days before we arrived." - Jaffah said.

- "I'm on it!" - Isis said, concentrating. - "There it is!"

Giana and Tyrol saw as the starcharts popped up, and Jaffah said:

- "Ok, now, we need the charts from Shadow's perimeter patrol from that day." - Jaffah said.

- "Who's Shadow?" - Giana asked.

- "He's one of our Scout Raiders." - Isis said - "Kinda like the one that Starbuck flew."

- "There!" - Jaffah said, poiting at the screen.

Isis looked at the screen, and she was still confused...

- "Those are the Starbases that were in following _Galactica_. There is no Ressurection ship with them." - Isis said. - "Her Simon could not be downloaded to the basestar directly."

- "Downloaded?" - Giana asked.

- "If a Cylon dies, his conscience and memories are downloaded into a new body, as long as he's in the signal range of a Ressurection Ship." - Isis explained. - "Like Boomer did after she was assassinated, and like the Twos and Fives that were in this fleet."

- "W-wait... Sharon is alive?" - Tyrol asked, surprised.

- "Ok, that's for later, Chief. Right now we have to focus on Mr. O'Neill" - Isis said.

- "Here it is!" - Jaffah said, pointing at the screen

The screen zoomed into one of the smaller ships that were around the basestars...

- "What is that?" - Giana asked.

- "This is a nexus relay." - Isis said, recognizing the structure - "But that is just a data node, Big J."

- "Exactly! Remember what Kane and Chief Xander said about the strange transmissions that the Raiders intercepted?" - Jaffah asked. - "The ones that were not going back to the Hub?"

Realization finally downed on Isis as she looked at the Four in awe...

- "Holy Frakk..." - Isis said, jumping and hugging Jaffah, then Giana - "He's Alive!"

O'Neill was speechless, and Tyrol didn't know what to do, as the giddy Sharon grabbed him and kissed him... unknown to them, one of the many witnesses of the scene was Cally, and if it was humanly possible for her to break the wrench she had in her and, she would have done so...

As she let him go again, she hugged Jaffah again, and him held her, making sure she didn't jump anyone else. Giana looked at him with tears in her eyes, as a dead part of her suddenly awakened...

- "We have to inform the Commander." - Jaffah said.

Isis and Jaffah looked at each other, and then, looking to the direction of the flight control, they ran, dragging along Galen and Giana:

- "Captain Blackthorne!" - They both yelled as they ran.

[War Room – half an hour later]

In the _Galactica_ War Room, Admiral Adama and Commander Warryk listened as Chief Jaffah and Lieutenant Isis presented their findings... Commander Lee Adama and Captain Thrace were also there, as was Lieutenant Agathon, Captain Leela Six and Colonel Tigh. Besides the Jaffah and Isis, Giana O'Neill and Chief Tyrol were also present. Adama would glance every other moment at Warryk, as the two Cylons kept talking... The fact that Warryk had not uttered a word since they started made the Admiral wary.

- "You believe that Simon O'Neill was downloaded into the nexus relay into cold storage?" - Leela six asked.

- "Yes, Captain. We know that Shelley Godfrey is in cold storage, as is the Doral copy that blew himself." - Jaffah replied – "Its only logical to conclude that my brother, once dead, would suffer the same destiny as the other Cylons infiltrated in the fleet."

- "I'm sorry, what is cold storage?" - Kara asked.

Leela turned to the blonde ace and explained:

- "Cold storage is the worse fate a Cylon can have. Basically our conscience is taken from our body and is placed in a memory module. Its imprisonment, of the mind and soul." - Leela said.

Lee and his father exchanged glances as they digested the new information:

- "Cavil surely decided to _reward_ their failure." - Isis said – "You know what that bastard is capable of..."

- "Yes we do." - Leela agreed, and looking at the Admiral and the Commander, she asked - "What are your orders, sir?"

Adama observed the charts on the table, and said:

- "The rescue operation will continue as scheduled." - Adama said - "Captain Thrace had the plan drawn before your arrival, so we can continue with her plan."

- "We rush the attack on their facilities and create a distraction for the raptor team." - Leela suggested - "And we could send a infiltration team to the resurrection ship to rescue Mr. O'Neill and the others."

- "You want to bring more Cylons?" - Tigh asked.

- "Anyone that stirred dissent enough to be put in cold storage is a potential asset to our cause." - Leela replied.

Leela watched Warryk intently. He was leaning over the table, with his eyes on the charts, and the lack of words from him was making her nervous... She looked at the Admiral, with a silent plead in her eyes for him to intervene.

- "Commander, what will be _Pacifica_ course of action?" - Adama asked.

Jann looked from the charts to Giana, then to Leela, and finally, to Adama:

- "_Pacifica_ will do exactly as Leela suggested." - Jann said - "We will ready to render assistance to Captain Thrace and her team as soon as they arrive in Colonial Space."

- "You mean the Battlestar?" - Adama asked, surprised

- "We will jump ahead, and stir their attention." - Warryk said. - "by the time that the rescue team reaches Caprica, We will be able to jump into the Colonies directly and cause havoc there. They will be too busy with us to notice the rescue team."

- "A distraction?" - Tigh asked.

- "Yes, a distraction." - The Commander said. - "and whatever damage that we can put on their war effort along the way also. Now, this is what I have in mind..."

**End of Act**


	12. Act XII: Facing the Burdens Part 1

Greetings, People of the Fleet =D

I apologize for the extended delay in updating the story, but I happen to be writing three chapters at the same time, and this chapter and the next three will be pretty much the _Season Finale_ for BSG _Pacifica_. I thank you all very much for bearing with me for these thirteen Acts, and now we have 2 more to go before the end of the season...

**Just a Crazy-Man : **I hope this one blows your mind away =D

**damrhein** : Like everything else that the_ Pacifica_ officers first said, this was a half-truth...

**Norwest** : thanks for the review, and it was interesting that you mentioned the "Gary Sue" trope, because... well, as you will find out in this Act, that is kind of true... As for the misspelling, as I've said before. Just send me a PM with the mistakes you found and I will correct them.

**Wes Imlay** : Thank you for joining our troupe, and I hope you keeping enjoying it =D

**MalSer** : No, not Caprica just Yet...

**helenaklopes** : Vem guerra sim, mas primeiro, uns twisters daquele de lhe fazer cair da cadeira...

**EvilTheLast** : Yes, keep tabs on that nuke...

**bladefax** : thank you, and welcome to our fleet...

**Kaylen Cooper** : and here is more =D

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

Admiral Pieter Finley (deceased)

Colonel Tillius Phineas (deceased)

Zoe Graystone (deceased)

Tamara Adama (deceased)

Blessed Mother Lacy Rand (deceased)

Fleet Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Captain Karl Agathon (Gunship Captain)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

Lieutenant Sharon "Agathon" (Pilot)

H.R.H Princess Helena Xander Alexandra-Knossus

Jr Lieutenant Bask Tallas (Ops)

Ensign Kim Hikari (Comm)

Jr. Lieutenant Sharon "Isis" Eight (Pilot)

Jr. Lieutenant "Artemis" Six (Pilot)

Centurion Sargent Aton

Chief Officer Simon "Jaffah" Four (Hangar chief)

Petty Officer Dana Busch (Mechanic)

Flip (Raider)

Shadow (Raider)

Doctor Alexys Whitewood (Head Scientist)

Doctor Jason Zhimm (CMD)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, "Downloaded" to "Lay Down Your Burdens".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act XII – Facing the Burdens Part-1**

[Day 270 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[6.225 Humans, 738 Cylons]

[BSG75 _Galactica – _Medical Wing]

**Sharon Eight** and **Karl Agathon** were listening to the most beautiful sound in the universe: the crying of a newborn. **Hera Agathon** cry of life filled the entire room, to the joy of their parents. As Doctor **Jason Zhimm** handed Sharon the frail child, Karl kissed her in the head, as he himself couldn't help but be marveled by their daughters. Behind the curtain, Doctors **Alexys Whitewood** and **Sherman Cottle** observed as the young Chief Medical Doctor of _Pacifica_ finished checking the mother and the newborn. Alexys smiled satisfied with the success of the birth. She had instructed Zhimm in all the specifics, and Hera's birth was much less traumatic that it would be if she had let Cottle perform the operation. He didn't known what to expect, then again, how could he, that being the first Cylon he ever worked on. Alexys had plenty of experience, and most important, she had her mother's notes...

In the waiting area, Admiral **William Adama **and Princess **Helena of Knossus** observed the birth on the monitors. Besides them, Presidential Aide **Tory Foster**, Lieutenant **Leoben Kane **and **D'Anna Biers**, guarded by four marines, also observed the screen. Both Foster and Adama were not happy with the presence of the Cylon reporter in the room, but as she was now formally part of the _Pacifica _Fleet News Service, and since she had committed no real crime other than hiding her being a Cylon, there was not much for them to do, and deny access to her was counterproductive.

The fact that she hadn't try to ask the Admiral any questions as she had compromised not to do there was also part of it. She was not stupid, and she knew that Adama would not hesitate to revoke her privileges in his ship if she tried to abuse his goodwill. Bill had a small smile on his face as he saw the happy couple on the screen. He liked Agathon, and as much as pained to say, he also liked Sharon. Her being a Cylon didn't really change that. That is why he didn't oppose their transfer to _Pacifica_. Kara's words were true; this Sharon had many chances to betray them, but she didn't.

Adama looked discreetly over his shoulder, and he saw the Number Three watching the screen with fascination. Her eyes were glistening with tears, and in that moment, Bill could see no difference between machine and human, and that disturbed him a little... why Cylons went to such lengths to emulate humanity and then tried to annihilate the very thing that they tried to become? His musings were interrupted as Dr. Cottle opened the door and said:

- "You can enter now." - The Veteran Doctor said.

Adama looked at his friend, then made a gesture for the ladies to go first. He made a discreet gesture for the marines for the to stay put, as he gesture for D'Anna do go before him, and he accepted the gesture of Kane, as he kept the door opened for both the Admiral and the Doctor...

[BSG96 _Pacifica –_ CIC]

In the Command Center of _Pacifica_, Captain **Leela Six** was in charge of the CNC Station. Besides her, Jr. Lieutenant **Bask Tallas** was acting as Second to the XO. On the Comm Station, Ensign **Kim Hikari **was listening to the wireless frequencies, waiting for news, and when they finally came...

- "Captain!" - Kim exclaimed - "They're broadcasting!"

Bask and Leela shared a smile, and she said:

- "Put on the speakers system for all decks, Miss Hikari." - Leela ordered.

- "Aye Aye, Sir!" - Hikari replied.

All the staff in the deck looked up to the speakers, as the brief static came, and then gave place to the cry of a child...

-==..._D'Anna Biers, for all our listeners in the Second Fleet. The cry you just heard was the first sound made by Hera Agathon, the newborn baby girl of the Couple Sharon and Karl Agathon...==-_

[Hangar Deck]

In the Hangar Deck, all work came to a halt as there also the staff glanced at the speakers... Chief **Simon Jaffah **smiled brightly besides him, **Dana Busch** sat on **Flips**'s wing to listen to the news...

-==_...Admiral Adama visited the Agathon family right after the birth. The Admiral declined to make any official comments, but this reporter can say that he looked a lot more lighthearted than usual.==-_

[Pilots Rec Room]

In the Rec Room, **Kaleb Blackthorne**, **Sharon Isis** and **Artemis Eight** gladly took a pause from the triad game to listen to the transmission, as being wiped out by the Centurion **Aton** was no fun at all.

-==_... Doc Zhimm expects the mother and child to be discharged from the medical wing in 24 hours. Lieutenant Agathon, whose transfer papers from Galactica have been approved, will join his family on Pacifica. They can count on a warm reception... _==-

[Commander's Quarters]

The lights from the floor gave a eery and gloomy atmosphere to the room, as **Jannus Warryk** kept still on his chair. The cry of Hera was the only sound he really paid attention to in the whole transmission. The future of humanity was born, and under his wing, they would be protected. That was all that mattered at that moment...

- "And the child is born... Are you happy now?" - the rich, male voice asked.

- "I'm content." - Jann replied.

- "The protection of the child should be William's responsibility." - a calm, female voice replied.

- "He's too involved with Roslin to be effective, and she's still too full of prejudice to be trusted." - Warryk said.

- "Perhaps if you show Earth to her..." - another male voice, this one more rugged.

- "No. They need Earth right now, it gives them hope. I'm not taking that away from them." - Warryk said. - "Besides, I need time to work on Baltar."

- "God must have been running out of options to chose someone as insipid as Gaius Baltar." - another female voice commented with sarcasm.

- "Gaius Baltar might be an egotistical coward, but he is a saint compared to the people on this room." - Jann replied, with dark sarcasm...

- "You are walking a fine line here, Commander." - yet another female voice spoke, this one with authority.

Jann was not intimidated thought, he looked from where he was seated to his _visitors_...

- "A angry, hypocritical, arrogant upper class brat..." - Warryk said, looking pointedly at **Zoe Graystone**...

- "...The over-protective sister of Humanity's protector..." - He continue, looking at **Tamara Adama**...

- "... The woman who single-handed had the power to stop that megalomaniac harlot and stop all this mess before it all started, and didn't use it..." - He looked at the Blessed Mother **Lacy Rand**...

- "... The loyal fool that failed to see the single biggest threat to humanity until it was too late..." - He kept going as his eyes glanced at Colonel **Tillus "Loudmouth" Phineas**...

- "... And said threat, the Jealous Lord of Kobol..." - Warryk finished, looking to Admiral **Pieter Finley**...

Finley looked at Warryk with severity:

- "You better control your temper, my boy." - Finley said, as he sat in the chair across from the Commander.

- "I told you not to call me that." - Jann replied.

- "But you are, and as long you keep refusing to accept that you cant fulfill your destiny in God's plans" - Finley said.

Warryk raised from his chair and walked to the shelf:

- "You mean the destiny that you planned for me. God didn't want any part in your plans, and neither do I." - Jann stated - "I thought that you had gotten the message after seeing my blade impaled in your chest."

Finley smiled with serene amusement. Zoe approached the table, and said:

- "You still didn't say what you plan to do with the child." - She pointed out.

- "I don't _plan_ anything, Zoe." - Warryk replied - "The future of Hera is up to her parents and God."

- "God didn't exactly helped much when the Cylons attacked the Colonies." - Tillius said.

- "God gave us the means to stop the war before it even started, but humanity was still too wrapped into the wrong teachings of the damned Lords of Kobol to see the signs." - Warryk said, and looking at each one of them, he added - "And the ones that saw the light either did nothing or tried to use what God had given us as instruments to gain power."

The Blessed Mother gave a stern look to Jann:

- "You condemn us but you have your share of guilty too." - She said.

Jann grabbed the bottle and the glass, and looked at it undecided for a moment. After taking a deep breath, he put the bottle and the glass back in the shelf, and looking at her through the mirrored wall, he said:

- "We all have our share of guilty on this, Blessed Mother." - He said - "And I intend to atone for mine."

- "You are still planning on follow on this silly plan of yours?" - Finley asked, as he observed Warryk siting behind his desk.

Warryk opened the drawer and grabbed a bag of dried fruits. Tamara and Zoe followed him, Adama leaning behind him over his chair and Zoe sitting on the desk, laying down on it. Jann ignored the beautiful young lady spread over his desk and the other playing with his hair, as he replied:

- "Yes, I do. _Galactica_ will prevail, and Admiral Adama will find a new home for all of us, where humanity will finally learn from past mistakes." - Warryk said, as he had his head pulled close by Zoe...

- "Let God decide..." - Zoe murmured, with a mischievous smile...

She caressed his face as she approached a bit more, with a lascivious expression on her face... when the flying wheel on the hatch turned. Before Zoe had chance to do anything, Warryk a pushed her unceremoniously off the desk, ignoring her cry of surprise as she few on the floor.

- "What the Frakk!" - Zoe complained, as she looked to the door - "Ahh... of course. _The Bimbo_..."

Leela Six entered the Commander's Quarters, finding it strange the low light.

- "Commander?" - Leela called.

Warryk turned the desk light on, and looking collected and calm, he said:

- "Yes, Captain?" - He replied, a bit flustered

- "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were resting..." - Leela said - "I can come back if you want."

- "Nonsense. Please, come in." - He said, as he touched the console, turning the ceiling lights on.

Leela looked around the room, with a eyebrow arched, and Warryk asked:

- "Is there a problem, Captain?"

Tillius looked with amusement to Leela, as she passed him. Mother Rand moved out of the way, and Finley just observed as the Number Six walked to the shelves and looked at the bottle out of place.

- "You didn't drink, did you?" - Leela asked, with a hint of accusation on the voice.

- "No, Captain, I didn't drink." - Jann replied - "I thought about it, tought."

Already on her feet, Zoe spoke:

- "Nosy much?" - Graystone spoke with spite.

- "She's showing concern with his well being. That's admirable." - Lacy analyzed.

- "She's making sure that the CO is not impaired to perform his duty." - Loudmouth said.

- "Are you ok?" - Leela asked, looking at Jann, who was trying to tune away the voices

Warryk turned his terminal on, and said:

- "Yes, I am." - He replied, ignoring the rest of the crowd in the room.

- "humm... New lipstick..." - Zoe said, as she stood right next to Leela - "I guess someone came here looking for some..."

Jann turned his head away, not to give a dark glance to Graystone, and Leela approached the desk, with the folders in her hand:

- "These are the transfer papers from the _Pegasus_." - She said – "Commander Adama also sent his supply special request with it."

- "He's smart, sending something that he wants with something that you want." - Tamara stated.

Warryk got the folders from Leela, putting them on the desk:

- "Is that a new lipstick that you're wearing?" - He asked, without looking.

- "She's blushing!" - Zoe pointed out.

- "She look's cute." - Tamara commented

Leela observed as Warryk went over the first folder, a bit uncertain of what to say. She had not expected him to notice the lipstick that Kim had let her borrow:

- "Do you like it?" - She asked.

- "Pardon me?" - He asked, as he was really not paying attention.

- "The lipstick." - She replied – "Do you like it?"

- "Oh my god, She's really blushing!" - Zoe exclaimed - "I didn't know that Sixes could be so... _Girly_!"

Graystone was having way too much fun at Leela's expense, and Jann decided to shut her up:

- "I like it very much, Captain." - He said with a smirk, and added a joke - "In fact, I like it so much that I could even order you to kiss me."

- "Sir?" - Leela spoke, surprised.

- "WHAT?" - Zoe exclaimed, outraged.

The string of curses and offenses that came out of the First Cylon was enough to make Jann satisfied. Behind him, Tamara was also surprised, and Lacy and Tillius had amused smiles in their faces. Finley kept a neutral expression. With Zoe's tantrum still going, Warryk barely registered as Leela went from blushing to a sweet smile, as she leaned closer to him:

- "Only this once." - She said.

It was not until he felt her hand in his cheek that he gave Leela full attention. The fact that Zoe also stopped yelling helped the fact. When he noticed what was happening, Leela's face was mere centimeters from his face, with her eyes closed... his eyes expressed the surprise as he felt the warm touch of the lips of his XO. Instinctively he brought a hand to her waist and another one to the back of her head, gently moving her on top of him.

- "Wow..." - Tamara said

- "She surely knows how to be forward." - Lacy replied.

It was easy for Jann to get lost in the sweet taste of Leela Six's lips, he realized. He barely registered when Zoe's string of curses came back with a vengeance. The Sixes were designed for espionage and infiltration by any means necessaries, including seduction, but Warryk was immune to their collective charms, as he was to all the other Significant Seven charismatic traits. Leela however, was not a simple Six, she was his right-hand, someone close, someone who he had in high esteem and admired...

As her lips parted, he stood there, with his and still on her wait, and the other hand sliding from the back of her head to her cheek. She looked at him sweetly, with a smile that could obfuscate the stars. And he looked just like he was; a shy young man of modest characteristics that had just been kissed by a goddess...

- "Leela..." - He managed to say, as he saw her turn to the door.

- "Just this once..." - she said, looking over her shoulder with a sweet, playful smile.

As she walked away, he kept quiet, still processing what had just happened. He prayed to the Merciful God that her act had not been because of his _Suggestion. _He respected her too much for that. The hatch closed, and finally, Zoe stopped bitching. Jann put his two hands on his face, leaning on the table with his elbows on it.

- "I'm so frakked..." - He muttered - "Alexys will kill me for sure now."

- "Just work your charms on the fiery doctor, and you wont have to worry about her..." - Finley said

- "Like you did with her mother, right? And discard her when she's no longer useful to you..." - Warryk said, with a dark glance at the Admiral - "I'm not you."

- "You're my son." - Pieter replied.

- "You're my genetic donor. My father was Anton Warryk." - Warry said - "Don't ever forget that, _Lord Lemnos_."

The others looked at Finley, as they knew that Warryk had touched a very sensitive spot. None of them dared call him **Lemnos of Hephaestus**, but then, none of them were his progeny:

- "I left that name behind, along with Kobol." - Finley replied, in a even voice

- "And conveniently, also with the crimes that you committed there." - Warryk replied with cinicysm - "Doesn't make you not even a little ashamed every time that one of those fools that worship your kind talk about Athena's _tragic suicide?_"

- "You are out of order, Child." - Blessed Mother scolded him.

- "No, Blessed Mother. You are the one that is out of order." - Warryk rebuked her, getting up from his chair. And as he looked around, he said to all of them - "The fate of humanity is not yours to toy with anymore. You're here to advise, and that is all."

None of them didn't reply, as they knew their predicament... The impetuous heir to the Last Lord of Kobol had the reins, and they knew that. After a brief silence, she decided to change the topic altogether:

- "For you to achieve your objective, you must reveal the truth about Kobol." - Blessed Mother said.

- "And to give any credibility to the truth, then I would have to reveal me." - Warryk replied, with sarcasm. - "I told you already that I'm not interested in playing a deity. There is only one God; the Lords of Kobol were not gods, he (pointing to Finley) is not a god, and certainly I'm not one either."

- "There is only one God, to say otherwise would be blasphemy." - Zoe replied, touching his shoulder with caress - "What Lacy meant is that you show yourself as you are. A envoy of God, blessed with His holy powers."

- "These abilities came from his genetic pool" - Jann said, pointing at the Admiral - "God had nothing to do with that. He didn't want any part on this _aberration_, not when the Lords of Kobol first did it, and not now when he (pointing at Finley again) did it."

- "You speak as if you know what are God's will." - Tillius commented, skeptical

- "I pray, Colonel. Try it sometime. You will see that God speaks to you." - Warryk replied, dry.

From behind the Commander, Tamara said:

- "You curse the gifts you have, and yet you use them all the time." - Tamara accused him - "You used on your officers, the people of this fleet, the Cylons, William and his children, the Virgons, the President and the Three and Six that you brought back from _Cloud Nine_."

- "I'm not stupid. I know that, without these abilities, I could never hold this fleet together, or approach _Galactica_ and protect the Cylons here at the same time." - Jann replied - "I know my limits, and that's why I seek the advice of this _Conclave_."

Tillius looked at the young man, and said:

- "You seek more than that, Commander, or I would not be here also." - The Colonel said – "I can understand resurrecting the Admiral, unboxing Miss Graystone and The Blessed Mother, and bringing Miss Adama here, but I'm was a atheist before and I was not part of any of the conspiracies represented by my c_olleagues_. If you brought me back It must be for another reason."

- "I brought you back because you're a honorable, decent man, Colonel, and I need you to keep me and this _Conclave_ honest." - The Commander replied - "And besides, you are one of the greatest strategists I have ever met."

- "So, there was a self-serving reason after all." - Tillius said, with a amused tone

- "You could say that. We all know what happened when I tried to play puppeteer by myself... I ended up having to make use of blackmail to get Sharon and her child here, and I'm quite sure that if Roslin were in better shape, she would have jumped over that table and beat the crap out of me." - Warryk said - "I could feel the anger coming into waves from her. She's probably immune to me now."

- "I don't believe so." - Finley disagreed - "If you were paying attention to my lessons, you would have remembered that humans are less susceptible to our _Suggestion_ when they are taken by violent emotions."

Finley just observed as the expression of surprise, then irritation, then embarrassment, followed on Warryk's face:

- "Frakk, I forgot..." - Warryk said, palming his face.

- "The same way that you forgot that the Five are immune to _Mind Influence_." _-_Zoe asked, with a smirk - "I'm sure that Miss Foster's opinion of you must be very low right now."

- "You already rubbed that to my face, Zoe..." - Jann replied, in a dry tone.

- "And lets not forget the Quorum..." - Blessed Mother added.

- "Look, I get it, alright? I screwed up! I admit it!" - Warryk replied, with irritation - "I thought that the shock of seeing the Cylons would make them more susceptible! It had worked before with the people in our fleet when I stopped the creation of the Quorum and when I made them accept the Cylons!"

Tamara sat on the table, with her legs crossed, and said:

- "The people in our fleet already had already acknowledged your authority, and they had a positive view of you because you had saved them." - Adama said - " The people on _Galactica_ didn't know you, they didn't trust you, and they hate the Cylons and the fact that you have them in your midst."

Warryk looked around to all the five members of the _Conclave_ and sighed. He recognized a lost battle when he saw one...

- "And that is why sons should listen to their fathers..." - Finley replied, with a eery calm.

The Admiral got up from his chair, and walked to the table:

- "Now, enough with the small talk. We must plan for your next steps." - He said, looking at the Datastream.

Jann walked besides him, and put his hand on the liquid. The console lit up in response.

- "Bring up the last charts we were looking at." - Finley spoke, in his command voice

- "You still didn't tell me where the One's Secret Cold Storage is." - Warryk pointed out.

- "Patience my boy. First, you must get some more firepower, if you're really serious about helping with the rescue in Caprica." - Finley replied, and as the stars showed around them, he pointed to a specific system - "There. This should be the perfect target for you."

Warryk looked at it and said:

- "This is a shipyard." - He said, wary - "Not even with all three Battlestars we could take that."

- "You're thinking in conventional ways again, Mister Warryk. Forget about what you learned on the the Academy. This is a whole new game we're playing here." - Tillius said, speaking to him the way he did before the _worlds ended_, as he got besides the Commander... - "We have a huge advantage over them, and its not these powers of yours. Now, grab that notepad of yours and start writing..."

Jann paid attention as Tillius Phineas laid out the unorthodox battle plan for taking the shipyard. The Fleet Commander took notes, and successfully suppressed his desire to reach for his _panic bag_ (as Helena had dubbed the paper bags he used when he started hyperventilating) as Loudmouth explained to him the details of the craziest attack that he had ever taken part on...

[Day 272 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[6.225 Humans, 738 Cylons]

[Second Fleet – in _Galactica _Fleet Space due to special authorization]

[BSG62 – _Pegasus_]

- "Commander, we are in position. Gunships _Cancer _and _Aries_ are covering our flanks." - **Anastasia Dualla** reported from her station. - "The Second Fleet report all ships in position."

- "Excellent, Lieutenant." - **Lee Adama** said - "Mister Hoshi, please inform _Galactica_ that we are leading the Second Fleet."

- "Yes, Commander." - **Louis Hoshi** replied, as he got the comm handle.

Lee looked at the DRADIS, observing the disposition of the ships under his protection, and looking back to Dualla, he said:

- "Tell Starbuck to launch the patrols." - Lee ordered.

- "Aye aye, Sir." - Dualla replied...

The glass doors on the CIC opened as Helena of Knossus approached. Hoshi nodded at Adama, that turned around and bowed his head slightly to the Princess:

- "Your Highness." - Lee acknowledged

- "Commander..." - Helena replied.

Lee made a gesture for the Princess to approach the C&C station, and as she did, he said:

- "We are already in position." - He reported - "The link with the Array _Sagittarius_ should come online any moment now."

Helena looked up to the DRADIS console, as the screen suddenly received the first sweep from their Sensor Array, and showed data on ranges that were vastly superior to the ships own sensors:

- "Reporting on new readings...that's almost a 300 percent increase in range, sir. We can pretty much see on the neighboring sectors." - Hoshi stated.

- "That's beyond the standard range of colonial arrays." - Dualla pointed out.

- "_Sagittarius_ was upgraded with Cylon technology." - Helena explained. - "It helps to detect patrols even before they can see us."

Lee accepted the explanation, not really interested in knowing the specifics about the mixed technology.

[BSG75 - _Galactica_]

- "Pegasus has taken charge of the Second Fleet, Admiral" - **Felix Gaeta** informed.

- "Thank you, Mister Gaeta." - Adama replied.

The Admiral looked across the C&C isle to **Saul Tigh**, as the Colonel kept his eyes up on DRADIS...

- "I just hope they don't open fire against the _Beast._" - Tigh said - "Every frakking ship on that fleet is packed with turrets..."

- "I doubt that they would risk being on the receiving end of_ Pegasus_ artillery." - Adama said.

- "_Pacifica_ has their FTLs online." - Felix reported.

- "And there goes the Kid." - Saul said.

- "Patch me trough." - Adama ordered.

He picked up the comm handle as Gaeta got him in contact with the Battlestar.

- "This is _Galactica_ actual." - Adama spoke.

-== _Pacifica Actual here. We're ready to depart, Admiral._==-

- "Good hunting, Commander." - Adama replied - "Doctor Zhimm discharged Sharon two hours ago. Starbuck's mission will depart in 18 hours."

-== _That's 18 hours for us to divert as much attention from the enemy as possible. Pacifica Out. _==-

[Sharon's Cell]

When Sharon got back to her cell from the medical bay, she was surprised to find dozens of gifts. Doctor Zhimm and Karl explained to her that everything came from the Second Fleet, as the citizens welcome the new family to the Fleet. Since then, she spend much of her free time between taking care of her baby reading the felicitation letters sent by the children of the Second Fleet.

She was happy, truly happy now. Commander Warryk had defended her and Helo with tooth and nail. He went as far as blackmailing the President, threatening to use whatever footage that D'Anna Biers had given him from the months that she stayed in the fleet (and when the president's health declined badly) and that would be embarrassing at best and be the beginning of a political scandal at worse. Sharon had never seen Roslin so mad. She didn't pity her though, as she had planned to take her baby away...

Another thing that made her particularly happy was the dark grey uniform that was hanging on the wall. She would, every once and while, take a look at the the Colonial Emblem in white, with the inscriptions _BSG 96 BATTLESTAR PACIFICA_ engraved. After months without a prospect of a future, she belonged somewhere again, and that was a feeling that she enjoyed. Karl was already wearing his new uniform, as both of their transfers took effect on the same day that it was formally presented. He was a Major now; Warryk had assigned him command of the Gunship_ Cancer_ and he was the present senior officer in the fleet in the absence of _Pacifica_.

- "Excuse me, Captain Agathon." - A ensign spoke, from the door. Now, the cell door didn't stay locked anymore.

- "Yes, ensign?" - Karl replied, acknowledging him.

- "_Pacifica_ just jumped, sir." - the officer informed him.

- "Ok, thank you for letting me know, ensign." - Karl said, nodding at him

The young officer gave him a quick salute and left the door. Sharon, who was breast feeding Hera, looked at her husband:

- "Well, now you're in charge." - She stated.

- "Yes, I'm in charge. And the first thing I will do is get Dr. Zhimm down here to see if you both are fit to travel already." - Karl replied - "Dr. Whitewood cared to prepare temporary quarters for all of us on the _Cadmus_. She loathed the idea of you spending any more time in this cell."

- "As I do too." - Sharon replied. - "What did Starbuck said about us not going on the mission? Did she have any problem with my replacement?"

- "She was cool with it." - Karl informed her - "She already knows Lieutenant Kane, and apparently he is alright by her book."

- "Even with him being a Cylon?" - Sharon asked

- "Even with him being a Cylon..." - Karl confirmed.

She looked at Hera, so serene and busy feeding from her breast, and could not help but feel hope for the future...

**To Be Continued...**


	13. Act XIII: Facing the Burdens Part 2

Greetings, People of the Thirteenth Colony (a.k.a. Earth II)

I apologize for the extended delay, but I had several personal matters to solve, and that didn't let me enough time to write. Hopefully, that won't be the case in the future, as my mind is bursting with ideas...

And now, the review:

**Just a Crazy-man**: Thanks, I hope this one also falls under the same praise category.

**Kaylen Cooper**: Thank you very much.

**Nedy Rahn**: One day, i promise, I will do the grammar review in this fic, but right now, there is very little I can do after I write every chapter... I pretty much read the words in my mind, not in the screen. There is a difference between Head-Baltar, Head-Six and the Head-Cabinet (nice term you coined. I'm making that Canon =D ) and that will come on the second season...

**EvilTheLast**: The Head-Cabinet (the new official description) does predate the Cylon War. And about a third fleet... you're almost right. Wait for the next season... The shipyard is a means to an end, as you will find out in this chapter.

**jojobevco**: Thank you, and welcome to the fleet.

**bladefax**: The friction is just starting.

**darkfinder**: Religion plays a huge role in BSG. The whole panteon of Kobol Lords and the Monads influenced every aspect of society in the Twelve Colonies, and even on Earth I, so i decided to play with that... bear with me, i'm sure that you will like it.

And now, I proudly present the part two of our season finale.

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

_The Conclave_

Admiral Pieter Finley (deceased)

Colonel Tillius Phineas (deceased)

Doctor Alexys Whitewood (Head Scientist)

_Soldiers of the One_

Fleet Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

Centurion Sargent Aton

_Colonial Fleet_

Jr Lieutenant Bask Tallas (Ops)

Chief Officer Simon "Jaffah" Four (Hangar chief)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, "Lay Down Your Burdens".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act XIII – Facing the Burdens Part-2**

[Day 272 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[6.225 Humans, 738 Cylons]

[_Galactica _Fleet Space]

[BSG 75 Galactica_–_ CIC]

**Tori Foster **entered the Command Center of the Battlestar in silence, being acknowledged by **Saul Tigh** with a nod. **Laura Roslin** just looked at her, but kept silent as Admiral **William Adama** was busy watching the DRADIS, and listening to the open Comm that blasted out of the speakers...

- "All Raptors left the Hangar." - Saul reported.

- "Thank you, Colonel" - Adama replied.

- "They are moving out with the escort vipers" - Tigh said.

- "Set the clock." - The Admiral ordered.

The Ensign did as ordered, setting the clock on the column as the Rescue Mission began officially.

- "Mr. Gaeta, put Starbuck on the line." - Adama said.

- "Right away, sir." - **Felix Gaeta** replied.

Adama observed as Gaeta got in contact with the Raptors, and as he nodded back to the Admiral, he grabbed the handset...

- "Raptor One, this is Galactica Actual." - The Admiral started - "What do you hear, Captain?"

-==_ Nothing but the rain, Sir._== - Starbuck replied

- "Your support should be meeting you over Caprica in 10 Hours." - Adama said.

- == _They had a huge head start . They better have the fireworks ready for us._== - Starbuck joked.

- "I'm sure they will." - Adama replied. He glanced at Roslin, and said - "President Roslin would like to say a few words too."

He handed the handset to Laura, who approached the console, and said:

- "Captain." - Laura greeted her

- == _Madame President.== _- Starbuck acknowledged her

- "You have our prayers and our best wishes in this mission." - Laura said - "May the Gods guard your path."

- == _Thank you, Ma'am. You can prepare that board of yours to add some numbers very soon ==_ - Starbuck said.

- "I will be glad to." - Laura said, handing the handset back to Adama.

- "Good Luck, Captain." - Adama said.

- ==_Aye Aye, sir.==_ - Starbuck finished the communication.

[Raptor One]

As **Kara Thrace** turned her comm off, she looked to the back of the Raptor, where **Leoben Kane** was working on the Cylon Navigation Computer that Chiefs Tyrol and Jaffah had adapted on the ships for that mission.

- "OK, Mr. Kane, its up to you now." - Kara said.

- "I made the calculations for the first jump already." - Leoben replied - "I just wish we could use the at least one of the Raiders on this mission. It could save us some serious time."

- "It was hard enough as it is to get volunteers to come with you here. To add more chrome to the equation was not an option." - Kara said.

- "I'm surprised that there are not any more _Pacifica_ volunteers in this mission." - **Erin Mathias **commented.

- "Not enough chrome here." - Leoben replied, in a playful tone.

Erin and Kara exchanged glances, and Kane added:

- "Like this mission, _Pacifica's_ mission also was classified 2-Alpha; volunteer-only." - Kane said

More glances exchanged, and Kara asked:

- "How many volunteered?" - Kara asked

- "Everyone." - Kane said, as he locked the first set of coordinates - "Ready to jump."

Kara turned back to her panel, and then passed the orders:

- "Alright, people, we're sending the coordinates now... prepare to jump on count!" - Thrace ordered.

- "All Navi-Computers set, jumping in 10, 9, 8, 7..." - Kane started to count.

Erin grabbed her gun and silently started to pray to her deities... In sequence, all the Raptors jumped away from the Fleet.

[Unknown Sector]

In the emptiness of space, the Caprican Rescue Mission jumped int the system...

- "First jump successful! Nine more to go." - Kara said.

- "Err... Starbuck?" - Leoben spoke.

- "Yes?" - Kara replied, turning to him.

- "I'm only counting 19 Raptors here." - He replied.

- "Frakk!" - She cursed, smacking the panel - "That was the first jump!"

- "Who's missing?" - Erin asked.

- "Raptor 307." - Kane replied

Realization downed on Kara's face as she smacked the panel yet again;

- "Frakking Racetrack! She had to Frakk it up on the first Frakking Jump!" - Kara yelled, angry.

- "Do we go back?" - Erin asked.

- "Mission rule say we keep going unless we lose three Raptors..." - She quoted the briefing, and quietly added - "This is a hell of a way to start, thought."

Erin looked at Kane, that just shrugged and started calculating the next set of coordinates...

[Above the future sector of New Caprica]

In the Raptor 307, **Margareth "Racetrack" Edmonston** and **Hamish "Skulls" McCall** were cursing themselves for the rotten luck of jumping in the wrong coordinates right in the first jump of the rescue mission, when their DRADIS picked um the large planetary body hidden behind the nebula that was bound to be one of the worst mistakes in humanity's history...

[Unknown Sector]

[Cylon Unity Shipyard T-7 - Control Room]

Faulty lights, smoke, fire and panic... that was the current state of the Cylon _Shipyard T-7_, as they were under fire by a Colonial Battlestar. It all started with a glitch, some noisy interference in the Datastream, then, the Hybrids became silent, something that made the Twos freak out, then the assault came. They didn't differentiate the Colonial Raiders from their own until they started firing, and by then, they were completely defenseless. Without the hybrids, they had to manually man the turrets, and they ended up shooting more of their own raiders as the enemy raiders had jumped away in the confusion, and when they came back, they had company...

- "Damage Report!" - A Six screamed, as the struggled to get up on her feet, holding on the remnants of a Datastream console.

- "We lost contact with all decks... the Data-flow is offline!" - A Five screamed back, terrified. - "The weapon they used on us made everything useless!"

- "We have to jump!" - A Four yelled, as he limped back to the console

- "The Hybrids are still offline!" - A Eight replied.

- "Then we must self-destruct!" - A One declared.

The Three that had two hands on the Datastream trying to get access screamed:

- "I got the Turrets back!" - She said with joy.

- "Then by all means, fire back!" - The One ordered, with sarcasm.

As _Pacifica_'s artillery kept castigating the Shipyard with their flank artillery, the Shipyard Turrets came back to life.

[BSG 96 Pacifica - CIC]

- "Commander, their weapons are back online!" - **Kim Hikari** informed, with urgency - "Their DRADIS is still trying to compensate for the radiation!"

- "FTL is ready, Sir!" - **Bask Tallas**, acting as XO, reported.

Glancing to the side, not to Tallas, but to **Tillius Phineas** invisible presence besides the lieutenant, **Jann Warryk** ordered.

- "Time to end this." - Warryk said, with determination - "Execute FTL Maneuver!"

[T-7 Control Room]

- "They Jumped!" - The Six said, as she tried to make sense of the few unscrambled data in the flow..

For a moment, the Significant Seven looked at each other with joy, but then, all vestiges of hope vanished as the whole room shook violently...

[Space]

_Pacifica_ jumped from one side of the Shipyard to the other, catching the semi-blind guns helpless. Flank artillery alternated with the main batteries as the Battlestar turned, destroying the last of the enemy defenses. A Basestar tried to leave, but as it started to move, the Raptors and Heavy Raiders fired a barrage of missiles on it, causing the midsection to explode, splitting the ship in two... The few raiders still fighting were destroyed or disabled by the combined effort of _Pacifica_'s Air Group.

Simultaneously, the assault transports that had landed in the vessels that were docked in the drydocks kept pushing as they advanced to take control of the ships...

[_Pacifica_ – CIC]

- "Turrets destroyed!" - Hikari reported, cheerfully - "Assault troops are in, Commander! Captain Six has secured the hybrid in the first Basestar!"

- "_Time for the next step, Mister Warryk."_ - Phineas said to him.

- "Nav, start docking sequence." - Jann ordered.

- "Aye, Sir." - The Navigation officer acknowledged.

Kim looked at Bask, that glanced at the Commander, whose eyes were on the DRADIS monitor. Tillius took a look at his pocket watch, and looking at the information on the C&C console, he waited for Warryk to give the next order.

- "Mr. Tallas, you have the Command." - Warryk said, as he put his pistol on the table, with the ammo cartridges.

- "Commander?" - Bask asked, surprised.

- "You take care of _Pacifica_, and I'll take care of the shipyard." - He explained as he loaded the gun, and with a smirk, said - "Try not to scratch the paint."

[Space]

As the Battlestar moved sideways, it got closer to the main structure, and in the adapted launch tubes, the docking tunnels were extended, with the Engineering team in space suits were ready to open the airlocks on the enemy. The disoriented Cylons didn't react until it was too late, as hundreds of shock troops stormed into the shipyard...

A few transports started to evacuate, but they were shot down before they could even jump away, surprisingly enough, by one of their own Basestars, now under Colonial Control.

[T-7 Control Room]

- "We must evacuate!" - a Five said, as he fired back from behind the column where he was hiding from the enemy fire.

- "They took the hangar! We're trapped here!" - A Eight replied, the last one with a hand on the Datastream, being protected by one of the Centurions.

- "They are too many! We can't hold them off!" - A Four yelled, as he shot blindly from behind the barricade

- "What are we going to do?" - A Three asked, looking at the One in charge - "Brother! What do we do?"

The One looked, at the corridor, without action, as a bunch of metallic marbles were thrown inside the control room. A Six looked with curiosity at the marbles, and she grabbed one that stopped near her feet... before she could react, the metallic sphere liberated intense electrical charges, that in close distance one to another and aided by the metal in the room, created a surge field that put out of combat Centurions and Significant Sevens alike.

As the Cylons struggled on the floor with the lingering effects of the electricity, **Leela Six** marched into the control room with a detachment of troops. They immediately disarmed all the Cylons in the room, and while they were still down, they cuffed them and put collars around their necks. The Centurions received a magnetic restraining device in their armor plates... A Four, more robust than the others, tried to struggle and break free from his cuffs, just to be assaulted with a lacerating pain that brought him right back to the floor.

- "These collars work on the same frequency as our synaptics. I advise you not to try to resist." - the Captain informed.

A Six looked to her twin as she was brought up to her feet by the soldiers:

- "You! How could you betray us like that?" - She asked, in agony.

- "I'm not the one who betrayed you." - Leela said, with a calm voice - "And in time, all Cylons will understand the wrongness of the path the Unity took."

- "The Cylon Unity follows God's designs for us!" - A Three declared, outraged.

- "And yet, you let yourselves be led by those among us that deny God." - Leela retorted, pointedly looking at the One.

- "What do you want?" - the One asked.

- "We are already taking what we want. Just cooperate, and you all will live." - Leela replied, and looking at the soldiers, she ordered - "Leave the One and put the rest with the others."

The guards started to escort the prisoners, and the One looked at the Cylon Captain, and then to the two soldiers that brought in some sort of equipment that had Cylon and Colonial designs that looked familiar to the One, and brought a worried expression to his face.

- "Now, Brother, we will talk about that Cold Storage place that you built..." - Leela said, with a dark glance...

[Hybrid Chamber]

As the Significant Seven, Centurions and Workers were being rounded up and put together, **Alexys Whitewood** was with the Fleet Commander in the room that sheltered the Shipyard Hybrid. **Aton **was guarding the door, keeping everyone outside, making sure that no one interfered with the couple's work. **Pieter Finley** also stood in the chamber, waiting for his progeny to act. And he would be specially pleased if his son heeded his advice and acted on the redhead scientist.

She was by far the most dangerous individual to him, and yet, Jann refused to do what was necessary... Right now, she was grilling him because of the Six XO, and the kiss they shared earlier that day. She would never admit, but Pieter knew her, as he knew her mother. Leela was the competition; she knew of the infatuation that his son had for the Cylon Captain, and she would fight at every possible chance to stop them from be together, not because she loved him, but because she would lose influence over him.

- "...For the last time, _Lexy_, I didn't kiss her, she kissed me!" - Warryk repeated, for the fourth time.

- "And I'm sure that you struggled all the way, trying to get away from her!" - She retorted, in an accusatory tone.

- "What did you want me to do? Threaten her at gunpoint?" - He asked.

- "Now, you listen to me, mister!" - She said, pressing her finger against his torso repeatedly, as to reiterate her point - "I don't care if that little ghost harlot keeps trying to get all over you, but you can actually kill your precious Captain if you insist into taking this any further."

- "... I know that..." - Warryk said, in a somber, pained tone - "I will refrain her."

There came _the lie _again... And again, his son fell for it like a duck. Finley knew that kind of woman very well, he had dealt with the worse of them all, Hera, the manipulative harlot of Kobol, and he had survived. It was just a matter of time before his son discovered the truth, but for now, it was good to teach him a lesson. If Jann kept insisting in not _Charming_ Whitewood, he would use the beautiful Leela to free his son from the manipulative scientist...

Alexys put a sweet, caring expression on her face as she saw the Commander brooding. She put a hand on his shoulder and said:

- "I'm sorry, Jann, but it is for her own good." - Alexys said - "It's not fair, but its the price you pay for saving all of their lives..."

- "I know, _Lexy_, I know." - He said, as he looked at the Admiral kneeling besides the Hybrid. - "I should start now."

He took of his jacket and put it on the floor, laying over it. As the Commander started to lay down on the floor besides the hybrid pool, Finley did the same on the opposite side. Both men hovered their hands just above the liquid, as the Hybrid kept her routine of randomic technical ramblings, completely ignoring her immediate surroundings. Alexys leaned against the wall, with a sly smirk in her face as she observed the Commander perform his miracle.

- "_Remember, be gentle. She will come to you... they can't resist us." _ - Finley said.

- "She's scared." - Jann stated.

Alexys didn't reply to what she thought it was him talking to her, but Finley did respond:

- "_You know what to do. This is not your first time._" - Finley said - _"From her, you can reach the others."_

He replied with a discreet nod, and inserted is hand in the liquid, grabbing the Hybrid's hand. Behind him, Alexys observed as the Hybrid suddenly turned her head with a surprised face, acknowledging Warryk's presence, and she grabbed from her case the projecting gear, the device that replaced the old holobands from the Colonial-Cylon War; it consisted of a Sensorial module (with similar design to a headband) and gloves, that allowed humans to access virtual realities such as the V-World, and the Cylon Projection Matrix.

After a quick connection process, Dr. Whitewood found herself in a beach, the sun shining brightly with the wind blowing in her hair and white sand under her feet. She was wearing the yellow sundress with the blue silk lace tied in a collar around her neck, like the first time she had seen him. She had her sandals in her right hand and her sun hat in the left hand.

In her line of sight, she could see them; the Hybrid, in her full human form, with curly chestnut hair, and a flowing green and white dress. And there he was, in his white trousers, the unbuttoned green shirt with the white undershirt, his hair disheveled and that easy smile on his face. She felt a frisson in her body as she observed him approach. She knew that this was a physiologic response to his _Mental Abilities_, but even with this knowledge, it was hard to resist him, even harder than it was to resist his father... probably because he had something that the Admiral never had, a _conscience_. Either way, the poor Hybrid wouldn't have a chance...

[_Pacifica _CIC – A hour later]

Bask Tallas moved from his position and saluted as Leela Six entered the room:

- "Sit-Rep, Mr. Tallas." - Leela ordered, as she approached the C&C Console.

- "The Shipyard is back online, Captain. We're ready to jump." - Bask replied.

- "Excellent. And the Commander?" - Leela asked.

- "He's with Doctor Whitewood in the second Basestar, Ma'am." - Kim Hikari informed her.

Leela looked at the Ensign, slightly surprised, and then looked at Bask:

- "He gave us the orders anyway. Let's carry out the mission." - Leela said. - "The Status on the Prisoners?"

The lieutenant looked down on his side of the console, and said:

- "They are being loaded into the transport. We rigged the Nav computer, they will jump away before they realize what we're truly doing here." - Tallas replied. - "And we got the package from the Rebels."

- "Excellent. Did they receive our package too?" - She asked.

- "Yes, ma'am." - Hikari replied. - "And we have our first batch of volunteers. They are manning the Basestars out of the shipyard."

- "Good. Send the jump coordinates, and tell Aton to inform the Commander that we're jumping." - Leela ordered, as she kept an eye on DRADIS.

[Cylon Freighter]

In the rigged Cylon Freighter, the Significant Seven copies sat in the cargo room, helpless as the Colonials had deactivated the ship's Hybrid and had jammed the doors, locking them away from the control room. They were powerless to do anything as they saw trough projection _Pacifica _launch nuclear missiles against their shipyards. The bright light of the explosion was the last ting they saw before they jumped away...

[Basestar]

As the operation proceeded according to plan, Aton kept his function as the Commander's Bodyguard, making sure that no one interrupted what was going on inside the chamber. He knew what was going on inside, and he knew all the secrets and conspiracies that were involved in it, and at a times, it would make him cringe, if he had a soft organic skin. But Aton was an experienced soldier, he had been one of the original U-87 that followed the Blessed Mother in the days preceding the Cylon War; he was a Guardian in the Cylon War, displaying without fault his golden plated armor, and he had survived with a much lower download count than many of the veterans from the war. And, above all, he was a Soldier of the One True God, and he knew that the ways of the Great Maker sometimes required a leap of faith, even if that meant conspire with a _Lord of Kobol_. As Finley walked out of the chamber, They both projected a garden by a cascade; for some reason, that brought Aton peace, and the sound of the water helped great deal to mask the sounds coming from inside the chamber...

Inside the chamber, the _charmed_ Hybrid had returned to her normal catatonic self, oblivious to the couple engaged in something a lot steamier than any military operation. Alexys supervised the conditioning process as she wanted to make sure that the hybrid became completely loyal to the Commander, but at the same time, that was a very stressful and arousing situation for her. It was not only the hybrids that could not resist the genetic supremacy of the young Heir of Kobol, she too had a hard time watching as he romanced the poor little Cylon girl into complete submission.

The mental waves, the pheromones, the perfect chiseled chin, the smile, everything in her genetic code urged her to his arms, in the same way that the Sixes were designed for seduction, the _Lords of Kobol _engineered themselves into godhood; to appear perfect, larger than life, majestic in every sense. But even with all of that, one she found out the truth about her mother's fate, she was able to resist the _charms _of the late Pieter Finley, or Lenmos, the last_Lord of Kobol_ to be called **Hephaestus**; he was a manipulative bastard of the worse kind, and she was glad that she was able to stop him before he could achieve his objectives, but now she had to deal with his biological son, and Jann Warryk was a lot harder to resist.

It was his decency, his idealism, that attitude of his, always ready do what was right, damned be the consequences... she was already moist and with shallow breathing when he was still half-way with the Hybrid girl; he affected her in ways that she couldn't describe. As soon as he was finished with her, Alexys jumped on him, kissing his lips with a sense of urgency that was well justified by her body... she came the first time just as he entered her, and she climaxed again as he started to kiss her skin as she mercilessly rode him.

There was no mistake, she was forcing herself onto him; the Doctor knew that, and she made no apologies for that, and she also knew that the only thing keeping Jann from making her dismount from him and never looking at her again was the friendship they had; So he put up with her sexual violations in these situations. If he ever found about what she did, he would never touch her again, let alone pretend to be a willing, loving partner as he was doing right now, caressing her bare back, kissing her boson, as she moved into her third orgasm...

She moaned his name in ecstasy as she felt the frisson take over, and she craved her nails on his back as she finally felt him also come, after the Basestar jumped... As she hugged her unwilling lover, she smiled with satisfaction, as she had achieved her goal. She felt him still kissing her skin, still pretending to be her lover. He was sweet, he really tried, ans if she was any other girl, she would believe him, but she knew better, she knew his genes...

Alexis dismounted the semi-naked Commander, and grabbed the pieces of clothing she left on the floor, as she composed herself. He didn't say anything, looking at her with care. That made her feel a bit guilty. She was glad that he couldn't read her mind, and know what she was feeling guilty for...

- "Are you alright?"- Warryk asked her, with concern.

She looked at him, at how sweet he was, how innocent... she had violated him, again, and he was concerned for her...

- "I should be the one asking you that... I did it again.." - She said, pretending to feel bad about her actions.

- "Don't worry. Its not your fault, its mine." - He replied, as he re-dressed himself.

Alexys leaned over him, kissing his head, a little token of affection, as she knew that, if their lives were different, she would fall in love with him without reservation...

- "I'm gonna check the Data-flow stream." - She said.

- "Alexys..." - He called her

She turned to him, as she already knew what he was going to say, she assured him:

- "Don't worry, I brought my kit with me. I have 12 hours to do it." - she said - "I don't want a pregnancy either. Its not my baby you want, after all.."

- "You know that is not that.." - Warryk was quick to correct her, before thinking it trough.

- "Oh, so you do want my baby..." - She teased him

As the Commander became speechless, she laughed sweetly and said:

- "Don't worry, I know what you mean... Well, I see you back in the ship, Commander." - she said, giving him a mock salute.

- "Doctor." - He acknowledged her with a nod as she left.

In the outside, she walked past Warryk's Cylon bodyguard without acknowledging him. Unknown to her, Finley observed as she left, the arrogant demeanor of her body as she walker away, and he said:

- "Exactly like her mother." - Finley commented.

Aton turned his head from the scientist to the dead Admiral, and back at the scientist, before moving into the chamber. He found the Commander already dressed, and he reported:

- =_We jumped into position_=- Aton spoke.

- "Excellent. Is the Infiltration team ready?" - Warryk asked, as he put his shoes back

The Cylon accessed briefly the Data-flow and said:

- "Affirmative. They are waiting for your orders." - Aton said.

Jann leaned over the Hybrid pool, and caressed her head. The catatonic hybrid stopped her rumblings and looked at him smiling. She kept looking at him for a moment, before she resumed her catatonic state, and Warryk left the chamber with Aton...

[Cylon Outpost D-31]

- "No word yet from the fleet?" - Asked a One as he walked into the control center of the outpost.

- "No, not yet. These solar flares make communication rather difficult." - A Five replied

- "Of course the flares make the communication difficult. They also mask our presence." - The One replied, annoyed at the insistence of the flawed model. - "That's why he communicate trough the convoy."

He walked to the console putting his hand in the Datastream, and as he received the information he replied:

- "As expected, the navigation sat got their signal." - The One said, with a disdainful tone. - "Right on schedule... after all, its a One who's in charge of the transport operation."

The Five looked at the Four and the Three in the room in silence, flustered but as always, incapable of arguing back, as the One, followed by two centurions, went down to the hangar bay. He and his brothers ran that facility for a purpose that even the others models didn't know about. To the Threes, Fives and Fours, that was a rehabilitation facility for those who were boxed. A second chance for those who were deemed too unstable to be allowed in the Unity. If they only knew... That's why they had the need for secrecy and privacy hidden behind the electromagnetic pulse of an unstable star, and that's why they needed to keep a reliable schedule of couriers, and that could only be managed by a Cavil.

He moved right past a group of Centurions that were carrying crates from the freighter, when he saw a Four that appeared to be in charge of the supply distribution, and went straight to him:

- "Excuse me. Where is the One in charge?" - He asked.

**Simon Jaffah** turned to the unsuspecting Number One, that recognized in horror the tattoo he had in his face, the same one that marked all of the _Plagued_... before he could react, Jaffah punched him hard enough to knock him out cold. The few other Significant Seven that were present looked baffled at the Four, and he looked to the drones and said:

- - "Start the next phase." - He ordered

Immediately, the drones opened the containers, and from inside them, a group of Centurions and Colonial soldiers marched, guns in hand. One of the Fives pulled his gun and took a shot at one of the invading Centurions, but he was shot down by a Drone who had also drawn a pistol.

- "Take them alive." - Jaffah said.

As the Significant Models in the hanger were being rounded up, **Giana O'Neill** disembarked the transport with a group of Centurions. She approached Jaffah as two drones held up the still stunned One, and acknowledged the _Pacifica_'s Hangar Chief.

- "Put a holding collar on him." - Jaffah said to the drones.

They both observed as the drones carried out the orders and he then asked:

- "Are you ready?" - Jaffah asked.

- "Ready as I'll ever be." - She said, arming the rifle in her hand - "Let's get my husband back."

Simon smiled and nodded in agreement, as they started to march towards the blast doors...

[Red Line of Colonial Space]

The second to last Jump in the Rescue Mission to Caprica brought the Raptors right on the former border of the space of the Twelve Colonies...

- "Ok, here we are, Right on the Red Line... 9 hours and 30 minutes into the mission." - Kane reported.

- "Alright... tell everyone its time for another break" - Kara replied.

As Leoben passed along the message, Kara got out of her seat and moved to the chair, saying to Erin:

- "Take the seat, Erin..." - She said.

The Marine did as ordered and moved, as Kara sat in the empty chair. Leoben turned to her, taking off his glasses and putting them over the panel, and he rubbed his eyes.

- "Do you really need those?" - She asked.

Leoben looked at the glasses, and them chuckled as he looked back at her:

- "Not really, but I like to use them anyway." - Kane replied. - "Why? Don't you like it?"

- "They make you look kinda like a nerd" - She said.

- "Nerd is good." - He replied. - "Besides, Helena chose them."

- "She did?" - Kara asked, surprised.

He scratched his goatee and said:

- "Once we became part of the Fleet, the problem that the Twos look the same became apparent, so I decided to change my appearance. Helena was the one that helped me do that." - He revealed.

- "That explains the goatee and the fine combed hair... you do look very _Virgonian_..." - Kara said.

- "I'll take that as a compliment." - He replied.

She leaned forward, and looking at his computer, she expressed her surprise:

- "You already have the jump coordinates for the next jump?" - Kara said, in disbelief.

- "Inside well mapped space, its much easier to do calculate a jump." - Kane replied.

- "I just hope that _Pacifica_ be there when we jump, or this will be a very short live mission." - She said.

- "They will be." - the Cylon replied. - "Have faith, Kara Thrace, we will succeed."

Leoben didn't really want to say more, as he knew, he was certain of it, as every other Number Two, that the human Blond Ace had was special, and she had a very important purpose to fulfill... he didn't dare speculate what that purpose was, as he himself didn't know his own purpose, but he was sure that Kara's destiny was beyond this mission, and therefore, she would come back from Caprica. He could only hope that he could come back too.

**To be Continued...**


	14. Act XIV: Facing the Burdens Part 3

My Apologies for the extended delay.

There is still one more chapter before the end of this season.

* * *

Battlestar Galactica

The Second Fleet

**Battlestar Pacifica Crew:**

_The Conclave_

Admiral Pieter Finley (deceased)

Colonel Tillius Phineas (deceased)

Zoe Graystone (deceased)

Tamara Adama (deceased)

Blessed Mother Lacy Rand (deceased)

Doctor Alexys Whitewood (Head Scientist)

_Soldiers of the One_

Fleet Commander Jannus "Jann" Warryk (CO)

H.R.H Princess Helena Xander Alexandra-Knossus

Captain "Leela" Six (XO)

Captain Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne (CAG)

Lieutenant Leoben "Kane" Two (Nav)

Centurion Sargent Aton

_Colonial Fleet_

Captain Karl Agathon (Gunship CO)

Lieutenant Sharon "Agathon" (Pilot)

Jr Lieutenant Bask Tallas (Ops)

Ensign Kim Hikari (Comm)

Jr. Lieutenant Sharon "Isis" Eight (Pilot)

Jr. Lieutenant "Artemis" Six (Pilot)

Jr. Lieutenant Evelyn Kane Three (Gunship XO)

Chief Officer Simon "Jaffah" Four (Hangar chief)

Specialist Giana O'Neill (Mechanic)

Petty Officer Dana Busch (Mechanic)

Flip (Raider)

Shadow (Raider)

Doctor Jason Zhimm (CMD)

**Timeline**

Season 2.5, "Lay Down Your Burdens".

**Summary**

What if not all Battlestars had been caught up defenseless by the Cylon Attack? What if the Civilian fleet that the Pegasus encountered had survived and found another Battlestar? What if the infected Baseship from "Measure of Salvation" had occurred earlier, and had been found by said Battlestar? And what if, months before New Caprica, the Fleet encountered a Second Fleet of human survivors? Welcome to BSG96 Pacifica.

**Act XIV – Facing the Burdens Part-3**

[Day 273 since the Fall of the Colonies]

[6.225 Humans, 738 Cylons]

[Cylon Outpost _D-31_]

When **Simon O'Neill** opened the hatch of the _Cybelle_, the last thoughts in his mind were his family. Not the Unity, his brothers and sisters, but his wife, and his daughter. He had fully expected to die, as he could not feel the Resurrection Ship nearby, but somehow, he downloaded into a new body, just long enough for Cavil express his disappointment, and place him in Cold Storage. Still, felt like a small price to pay to keep the two most important people in his life safe. He drifted into his prison in peace, praying to God for the safety of his family...

- "Here he comes." - **Simon Jaffah** said, as he got the readings from the resurrection tank.

Besides him, **Giana O'Neill** observed the tank with anxiety, as the hand twitched and the body convulsed in the liquid, right before his eyes opened, with a deep first breath of life..

- "Oh, my Gods..." - Giana exclaimed, with tears rolling down her face, as she saw her husband come back to life...

Simon O'Neill looked confused for a moment, and he looked to his right, seeing Jaffah...

- "W-what... how?" - Simon asked, confused.

- "Welcome back, brother." - Jaffah replied, and with a nod of his head, he pointed to Giana - "You were missed, deeply."

The Cylon Medic looked to his left, and was startled to see his wife at his side besides the tank.

- "G-Gia..." - He said, in disbelief before the sight of his wife once more, his voice shaken by the surprise..

She tentatively touched his face, caressing him as she was sure in his eyes, that he was _Her Simon_, the man she loved...

As he started to rise from the tank, she gave up on her own impulses, and lurched at him, hugging the Four with the determination to never let him go again... Simon held his wife in his arms, as he wept openly, thanking the One True God for the bless of being able to hold the woman he loved once more. Jaffah stepped away, looking at one of the Eights that were in the mission, and he said:

- "Help them when they're ready. I gonna see how the rest of the operation is going," - Jaffah said..

- "No problem, Chief." - The Eight replied.

He walked on the corridor in the middle of the storage, observing the other tanks, and then stopped when he found one of the _targets of interest_ on the Commander's list. He stepped behind the ensign that was helping the naked woman get out of the tank, and as he felt his presence, he stepped away, letting the Chief come closer...

- "Are you Shelley Godfrey?" - Jaffah asked.

The Six looked at him, and nodded, still not fully recovered from the download, and he said:

- "W-who are you people?" - She asked, wary of the humans that were around her... - "Why are the humans here?"

- "I'm Simon Jaffah, Model Four, Crew Chief of the _Battlestar Pacifica. _All the Cylons and Humans that you see here serve with me on _Pacifica_." - He replied, and leaning to her, he added, with a grin - "And so do you now. Welcome to the Fleet."

**Shelley Godfrey** looked at the Four, suddenly more worried for her well-being than she was when she was boxed...

In other part of the Cold Storage deck, two soldiers were doing a security sweep, when one of them noticed something...

- "Hey, are you hearing this?" - **Jon Camargo** asked

- "Hearing what?" - **Titus Claremont** replied.

- "Dude, are you deaf or something?" - Jon asked, as he approached the bulk wall, trying to get a better.

- "If by deaf you mean I cant hear the little voices inside your head, then yes, by all means, I'm deaf..." - Titus replied, with sarcasm.

Camargo put his ear against the metal, and heard clearly the sounds behind it. He immediately moved away from the wall, and looked around.

- "There is something behind this wall." - He said to his fellow crewman. - "There must be a door or somewhere here...

- "I don't see anything. Gods, this gear weight a ton..." - Titus complained, and leaned against a column...

Unbeknown to him, his touch lit a panel on his back, and when he heard a hum he immediately moved from the column and turned around with his rifle in is hand, ready to fire. Jon turned around, as he heard the commotion...

- "What the heck?" - Titus asked, surprised.

- "What did you do, you _duffus_?" - Jon asked.

Another sound made both soldiers looked around, and they saw the whole bulk wall, that was in fact a huge blast door, start to open, catching the attention of everyone in the deck. The lights on the hidden deck lit up, and behind them, both soldiers hear the voice of Jaffah:

- "What is that?" - The Four asked.

Immediately Titus turned around, looking up to the black Cylon (who frightened him a bit) and pointing at Jon, he said:

- "He did it!" - Claremont accused.

Jon looked in disbelief to his friend, in his eyes, the clear unspoken tough in the young marine's mind as to if his buddy was really serious...

- "Good job, Mr. Camargo." - Jaffah said, as he passed both soldiers.

Titus looked first at Jaffah, then at Jon, outraged that he was not being given the merit for his discovery, even tough he accused Camargo of being the author of the misdeed. Jon just gave him back a smirk before following the Chief. Claremont sighed and walked behind his friend, his ego bruised:

- "Dude, life is so unfair..." - Titus muttered.

As they moved inside the secret deck, they noticed cages of various sizes, and a multitude of noises started to grow louder... Jaffah passed his hand over another console, and the lights on the cages were turned on. The surprise in his face was clear, as he saw exactly what was inside the cages...

- "Oh, Boy... Dana will go crazy now.." - Jaffah said..

- "he, he, he... _Miss Cuddles_ will have a nerdgasm when she finds out about them..." - Jon commented to his friend, as they looked at dozens of dogs, cats, birds, and all sorts of small animals..

[Space over Caprica]

The Raptor Rescue Mission jumped in the lower orbit of the fallen Capital of the Colonies, and immediately, from her side view, **Kara "Starbuck" Thrace **saw the battle raging over the planet...

- "There they are!" - She exclaimed.

Both **Erin Mathias** and **Leoben Kane** moved from where they were to look trough the windows, and they saw _Pacifica_ engaging four Basestars.

- "Oh my Gods, they will be slaughtered this way!" - Erin said, frantic, as she watched the Battlestar's Cannons struggling to destroy the missiles launched by two Basestars, as the other two ships advanced towards them.

- "Frakk, fasten your seatbelts, people, we have to give them support!" - Kara said.

- "Kara, wait!" - Leoben said, as he kept watching the battle.

- "Wait? Why... oh, For the Love of the Gods..." - She said in horror, as she saw the other two Basestars open fire...

The teams in the Raptor watched in horror as the missiles from the last two Basestars approached _Pacifica_, just to be taken by surprise as the projectiles exploded mid-air in collisions against the other missiles launched by the first two Cylon ships.

- "What the Frakk?" - Erin said, confused.

- "Those Basestars are ours." - Leoben said, in a joyful voice.

They saw in fact the Basestars firing against the other Basestars, but before they could even think of celebrating, the DRADIS alert sounded in the screen.

- "Incoming Hostile Raiders." - Leoben informed.

- "Evasive Maneuver, All Raptors, Evasive Maneuver!" - Kara blasted over the comm.

The Raptors started to move, as some of the Raiders exploded before they got into range. Trough the comm, they heard a human voice:

- ==_Ihhhh-HAH! Jaba-laba-laba!_== - **Kaleb "Black-1" Blackthorne** proclaimed his Scorpian battlecry - == _We've got your back, Caprica Mission. Proceed with flying plan._ ==

Kara looked over her shoulder to Leoben, and he said:

- "He's into that Gunslinger Stuff." - Kane explained, slightly embarrassed by the mannerisms of his fellow officer.

- "O-kay..." - Kara replied, holding bak her tongue as she turned back...

On the _Tau Wing_, Lieutenant **Graz "Speed" Brunno**, a Cylon Model Two, lead the fighters as they kept the Raiders away from the Raptors...

- "Tau One to flight group. Keep the heat on them, people!" - Brunno replied - "Launch the missiles! break their line!"

- ==_Aye Aye._== - the other pilots replied over the Comm

Vipers and Raiders moved in formation, and scores of missiles flew in the vacuum of space against the enemy Cylons, causing heavy damage among them and forcing them to break their attack to regroup.

- "That's our cue, people. Dive in!" - Starbuck ordered over the comm.

The Raptors broke from the fight and accelerated towards the surface, leaving the Cylon and Colonial forces behind.

[BSG96 _Pacifica_]

- "Internal explosions on both enemy Basestars, Commander!" - **Bask Tallas** informed from his console

- "Excellent." - **Jannus Warryk** replied - "Miss Hikari, get me _Ionian _actual."

- "Aye Aye, Sir!" - **Kim Hikari** replied.

Jann glanced at **Leela Six** as she kept her eyes on the DRADIS:

- "Are they inside?" - He asked.

- "Yes, and they're heading for the drop point." - Leela replied.

- "Sir, _Ionian _Actual on the line." - Kim informed.

[Basestar _Ionian_]

On the command center of the Basestar dubbed _Ionian, _ the Two known as **Drake Two**, leader of the crew currently operating the ship projected the communication from the Battlestar...

- "Drake here." - he spoke

-== _We gonna move to the next part of the operation, so I'm leaving you in charge of protection for the rescue mission, Mr. Conoy ==_ - Warryk informed

- "We scrambled the signal enough to keep them in queue for a long time before they can download again." - Drake informed - "We'll continue to transmit the false transporters to keep the Unity away. You can jump free of worries, Commander."

-== _I'm counting on you, Drake. May God Guard You._== - Warryk replied.

- "May God Light your way." - Drake replied.

As the two Basestars moved in position, _Pacifica_ moved away, jumping as soon as it broke high orbit.

[Planet Caprica]

In the forests on the outskirts of Delphi, The rescue group led by Starbuck was moving towards the Refugee Camps. They landed their raptors far, as they didn't have means to communicate with the people on the ground, and made their way on foot...

- "So, Mr. Kane, where are we exactly?" - Kara asked.

Leoben looked at his navigator, with the information streamed from the Two Colonial Basestars in orbit, and said:

- "We're about a klick away in that direction" - The Cylon informed, pointing towards a hill..

- "Movement ahead." - Mathias said, as she had noticed an unnatural movement in the bushes..

Kara immediately made a gesture and all her group crouched and hid behind any available cover... As she looked trough a hole in the fallen tree she took cover, the Blonde Ace saw in fact, a lot of movement in the bushes... She adjusted the helmet, that was a bit too large for her head, and looked at Erin and Leoben...

- "Cylon?" - She asked.

- "I don't think so... too random." - Kane replied.

- "Friendlies, then?" - She asked again.

Mathias and Leoben exchanged glances, and she said:

- "There is only one way to find out..." - The Marine said, and then, shouted - "You got a Samuel T. Anders there?"

A few more seconds, and a female voice asked back:

- "Is there a Kara Thrace there?"

Erin looked at Starbuck, that had already a smile on her face:

- "Friendlies." - Mathias concluded.

- "Who want's to know?" - Kane shouted.

From the other side, they heard a male voice:

- "If there is, tell her that she took her good, sweet time getting here."

With that, Kara left cover, standing up as she saw the members of the resistance doing the same on the other side. She smiled brightly as she saw **Samuel Anders** getting up, the rest of the soldiers also leaving cover, and moving closer to the civilians.

As both groups greeted each other, Kara hugged the former Pyramid player, that returned the hug wholehearted:

- "What took you so long?" - Sam asked.

Starbuck didn't respond, saying instead:

- "We have marines in Raptors. We're gonna get your people out of here." - She said.

- "As good as your word, huh?" - He joked.

- "Yeah! Good as my Frakkin' word. What, did you think I was going to leave you here?" - She asked, and kept bragging - "Now you feel like a big Frakkin' idiot, don't you?"

- "Alright. Just shut up and saves us already, okay?" - Anders replied, with a grin.

Approaching them, **Hillard** said:

- "People, this is nice, but we have toasters in our ass." - He said.

Looking around, Kara noticed the low number of people with Samuel:

- "Where are the rest of your people?" - Kara asked.

- "This is it. Toasters hit our base camp this morning." - Sam replied. - "I've lost half of my crew."

A sound of whistle, a _loud_ sound of whistle was heard, and immediately Kane alerted the group:

- "Incoming!" - He shouted.

The group took cover, as all hell broke loose around them, with mortar shells hitting the ground in horrific explosions, and bullets flying over their heads...

- "Frakk! Back to the raptors!" - Starbuck ordered

Two soldiers that tried to move first were caught by a mortar impact, and flew back, severely injured...

- "We can't! They blocked our way back to the raptors!" - Mathias yelled.

Besides her, Kane used his comm...

- "SAR to _Pacifica_. We're under heavy fire!" - The Lieutenant said - "We need support!"

[Second Fleet]

[Gunship _Cancer_]

After leaving Sharon and Hera under the care of Doctor Whitewood aboard the _Cadmus, _**Karl Agathon** took a shuttle to his new command.

The _Cancer_ and its sister ship _Aries_ were both of Cygnus Class design. They both were about a 3/4 the size of the _Pacifica_, half the _Galactica_'s size, and a bit over 1/4 of the mighty _Pegasus. _That, however, didn't reflect in weaker firepower. Their role was fleet defense, and to that effect, they were pretty reliable, was the months after the Fall had proven...

Commander Warryk told him that this was a temporary position, as he hinted that he had bigger plans for him, but Karl was happy enough already, with the woman he loved free and their baby healthy and safe. He entered the small CIC of the Gunship, were automation meant a smaller command center. There he found his second-in-command, **Evelyn Kane**, a Number Three, and "sister" to Lieutenant Kane of the _Pacifica. _Her long, dark hair was unmistakable as he found the Jr. Lieutenant with her back to him, reading information on the monitor...

- "Anything interesting?" - Agathon asked.

Caught by surprise, Evelyn turned around, slightly flustered:

- "Captain!" - Ms. Kane replied - "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were back."

- "At ease, Miss Kane." - Karl said, in a relaxed tone - "So, anything interesting developing?"

Evelyn stepped aside, letting Karl get a glance at the information on the screen... Agathon's expression was serene as he read the news:

- "So, Baltar is up in the polls now..." - He stated.

- "Apparently." - Evelyn replied - "People are dubbing the planet New Caprica."

Agathon moved back to his station, and said:

- "I fully expected this after the last debate." - Agathon said, as he moved towards the CNC console. - "Reports on Zeta Wing?"

- "Zeta 1 to 6 completed the jumps on the nearby sectors." - Evelyn replied - "Everything reports clear."

- "Clear is good for a change. Anything else?" - Agathon asked.

Ms. Kane touched the datastream on the console, and replied:

- "The Movers with the workers from the First Fleet returned to _Galactica_ twenty minutes ago." - the Three reported - "The next group for the second turn is not due for another five hours."

Agathon nodded looked at the DRADIS, observing the movements of the fleet under his temporary command...

- "Sir, communication from _Pegasus_." - An Ensign informed, and he added - "Is Her Highness."

Karl got the handset, as the officer transferred the call:

- "This is _Cancer _Actual." - He identified himself

-= _Hello, Captain, This is Helena.=-_

- "Your Highness, what can I do for you?" - He asked.

-= _There is a meeting of the Colonial Assembly in three hours and as Highest Ranking Officer in the Fleet, I need you to attend that meeting._ _ =-_

- "I would be honored." - Karl said - "However, Commander Adama is the highest ranking officer in the fleet right now."

-= _Commander Adama might be your superior in rank, but he is not part of this fleet, Captain. I, however, invited him as an observer, in a gesture of good faith. =-_

Agathon didn't want to think on how that would resonate with the Old Man, but that was not his problem anymore...

- "I will be there, Your Highness." - The Captain replied.

-= _Good. I see you there, Captain.=-_

The transmission ended, and as he put the handset back on its base, he looked at Evelyn:

- "Ms. Kane, I have a meeting in three hours on the Colonial Assembly." - Karl informed her, and with a sheepish look, he asked - "Now, what exactly is that they expect of me there?"

Evelyn looked at her CO and started to explain how the assembly worked, and what he was to do there...

[Space over Aquaria]

It had been an hour since _Pacifica_ jumped over the frigid Colony of Aquaria. On CIC, Leela Six and Bask Tallas waited patiently for the return of the SAR led by the Commander to the devastated surface of the planet.

- "45 Minutes, Sir." - Tallas informed, as he had done, every five minutes since the departure of the rescue team.

Leela nodded in acknowledgment as she kept her eyes on the DRADIS for the Unity patrol that has just passed by them... she observed as they kept their route and jumped away

- "Another Patrol left." - She stated.

- "Thank God our Hybrids can hide us from their sensors." - Hikari said.

- "We have six more minutes before the Basestar jumps in." - Tallas informed, looking at one of the many chronometers they had on counting.

The Captain put her two hands on the console, looking even more intently at the DRADIS, in hopes that she would see the any of the transports showing up on that moment. She kept looking, and looking but nothing changed... as she put her head down, Tallas said, with enthusiasm:

- "Finally!" - The lieutenant said - "SAR is leaving the surface!"

She looked at the DRADIS, and saw the shuttles moving towards them.

"Captain, The Commander is on the Comm." - Kim said, pointing at the Handset.

Leela picked up the comm immediately:

- "Pacifica to SAR. How was the mission?" - She asked

-=_ Astonishing Success. Package delivered. We're bringing the Infiltration Team and the Warheads.=-_

_- _"Excellent news, Commander." - Leela replied - "They sure could use some help in Caprica right now."

-= _Caprica will have to wait. Plot a jump to Canceron. Warryk to task-force. Implement next stage.=-_

On DRADIS, some of the shuttles spun up their FTL drives, and after a few seconds, they jumped away, as the rest of the shuttles entered the hangar.

- "All birds are back in the nest." - Tallas informed her.

- "Very well... Navi, get the FTL online, set coordinates to Canceron." - The Captain ordered. - "Helm, take us in..."

In space, _Pacifica_ moved into low orbit, circling the cold planet. On the screens, the images of the once magnificent oceans of Aquaria, with the millenarian glaciers fragmented and blackened by the black dust resulting of the nuclear attack, gave a true sense of a dead planet to the officers. Leela sighed, a taste of remorse creeping um in her throat. She looked at the clock, with only a few seconds left on the count. Soon, Ballas said:

- "DRADIS Contact!" - He said. - "Two raiders. They are heading to us."

- "Gunners, take them out." - Leela ordered.

The port cannons came to life, turning and aiming at the two approaching enemies. As soon as they got into firing range, the kinetic weapons fired; The two raiders dodged the first spray, gaining precious seconds so that their reinforcement could zero in to them. A second volley hit one of the raiders, that lost control, falling down on the planet, and a third firing sequence took the other fighter, but by then, their job was done...

- "Multiple Contacts! Basestars!" - Tallas shouted, as the glass doors opened and the Commander entered the CIC.

- "Commander." - Leela acknowledged Jann, as he came in.

- "Is the FTL online?" - Jann asked.

Warryk marched to the CNC console, and Bask reported to him:

- "Drives Spun Up and charged." - Tallas informed

- "Incoming Missiles!" - Hikari informed, with some sense of urgency.

- "Activate BMD, Deploy decoys." - Leela ordered, looking at her CO.

The Battlestar's point defense railguns fired against the missiles, and dozens of flares were launched, reaching the Cylon projectiles in a big sequence of fireworks in the flak field...

- "Twelve seconds to mesosphere..." - Hikari informed.

- "They're gaining on us." - Tallas reported

- "They launched Raiders." - Leela said.

- "Helm, on my mark, ten seconds booster!" - Jann ordered - "All Hands, Hold on!"

Around him, the officers in the CIC braced themselves, as Hikari sent a ship-wide transmission...

- - "Mark!" - Warryk said.

_Pacifica's_ thrusters burned brightly, propelling the Battlestar even faster. The planet's gravity made the crew feel the momentum even more, as they accelerated. Warryk kept his eyes on the CNC console, keeping track of the movements of their pursuers...

- "They are following us!" - Tallas exclaimed

- "DRADIS contact!" - Leela shouted - "Four basestars ahead!"

Besides Jann, **Tillius Phineas** leaned over the CNC console...

- "They took the bait." - Loudmouth said, as he saw the incoming missiles from the newly-arrived basestars showing up on DRADIS...

Warryk raised his head to the DRADIS monitors at the same time that Hikari spoke:

- "We've reached the mesosphere!" - The young ensign spoke.

- "Launch emitters!" - The Commander ordered

From the dorsal missile launchers, dozens of round-shaped projectiles were fired, heading straight to the ocean...

- "Emitters launched!" - Bask informed him.

- "JUMP!" - Warryk shouted.

_Pacifica's _FTL created a spatial distortion for a fraction of second, before disappearing, leaving the Cylon missiles to hit themselves, creating more fireworks, before the first of the projectiles reached the ocean, its outer shell opening, revealing a odd-shaped machine inside, with a blinking light, that after a few seconds, started to pulse increasingly fast...

The Cylon raiders flying over the water tried to survey what the humans had fired, when as the emitters sent a burst of radio waves... a huge light from the water surrounded the raiders, and before they could react, columns of fire encircled them, as the Aquarian ocean's treated salt-water solution was disrupted by the radio waves, its molecules of hydrogen and oxygen were separated and left free to burn at the faintest of the sparks, in a chain reaction that was made possible by decades old conspiracy and the weeks old wireless transmitters planted by the Infiltration Team all over the planet... The huge ball of fire rose up to the skies, taking the Basestars by surprise, before they could jump away, and the dead planet's atmosphere was consumed in fire.

[Space over Canceron]

_Pacifica_ jumped in high orbit of the planet, but their attention was focused on the planet they had just left. Picking up their VR gear, the human officers joined the Cylon officers in the projection of the view of Aquaria, that now burned brightly as Helios Delta... The Oceans of Aquaria burned during the Fall, but now, the Soldiers of The One made sure that every Cylon in the Unity remembered the day that they returned to the Helios System...

- "Captain, have the Cloud warheads assembled in the missiles and ready to launch." - Jann ordered. - "Mr. Tallas, launch the raptors, and drop the supplies on the established coordinates."

Bask got in contact with the Hangar, and Leela nodded briefly, placing her hand in the datastream...

[Forests of Caprica]

The situation had not progressed much since the Cylon ambush. The SAR team and the members of the resistance took cover in some ancient ruins on top of the hill, as the Cylons kept coming...

- "Frakk! Conserve your ammo!" - Kara shouted, as she saw one of the marines spraying agains the woods. She looked at Sam and said - "Some rescue party, huh?"

- "Well, it could be worse..." - Sam joked, as he kept pressing both of them against the wall, to escape from the bullets.

- "Really?" - Kara asked, skeptic - "How could that be any worse?"

- "Well.. I could be cuddled up with one of the guys instead of you.." - He said, with a malicious grin

Thrace looked at Anders, the disbelieve blatant in her face for a moment, and she elbowed him:

- "We're in the middle of a fight and you're thinking about frakkin'?" - She asked him, in a low voice.

A shot hit the edge of the wall, and some debris flew on them, what made Sam pull Kara and use body to protect her, as Hillard and Mathias fired against the Cylon centurion. Leoben, that was on the opposite side of the hideout, saw a Centurion jumping from behind the hill, inside the ruins.

The sudden appearance of the Cylon soldier made **Jean Barolay **stumble and loose her gun. In a split second, before anyone could react, Kane jumped into action, grabbing the Centurion by his Breast Plate, and showing inhuman strength, he threw the Centurion against the wall, that crumbled with the impact... some of the marines immediately shot down the fallen cyborg before he could react.

Crouching down, Kane helped Jean on her feet, and she looked at him with surprise:

- "T-thanks..." - She said.

- "Don't mention." - Leoben replied, as he found cover behind the base of a fallen column.

Suddenly, they heard some loud sounds, and three missiles flew across the sky, over their heads, and against the centurions, followed by two Raiders...

- "Incoming!" - Hallard shouted.

- "No! Those are _our raiders!_" - Kane said, with relief...

The raiders were followed by Vipers, that also fired at the Cylons, and over the wireless, Kara heard the voice of Speed Brunno...

_-= Your path is clear, SAR, get back to the Raptors! =-_

- "About time... Everybody, back to the ships!" - Starbuck ordered...

The officers and civilians left the ruins, amidst heavy suppressing fire provided by the aerial support. Running trough the woods, a few of them were shot by centurions that were trying to get to them...

- "More Toasters! Take them out!" - Anders yelled.

As soon as they got to a open area, they saw the Raptors from the SAR, and some more that were on the air, firing at the Cylons that were pursuing them. Some more centurions ran from out of the woods, and Kara saw, in horror, as one of them took aim on her and Sam...

- "Look out!" - she heard a voice shouting from above.

Before they could fully understand what was going on, they both were shoved in the ground as **Isis Eight** and fourcenturions jumped fro one of the Raptors. Sharon dived, bringing Thrace and Anders with her to the ground as her team fired against the other Centurions...

Kara and Sam groaned, as they looked at the blue-haired Cylon...

- "S-sharon?" - Sam asked, surprised by her looks...

- "Not the Sharon that you think I am, stud." - She said, with a smile.

- "Isis? What are you doing here?" - Kara asked.

- "Saving you cute little behind." - The Eight replied

- "what..?" - Starbuck tried to speak, but she was silenced by her fellow pilot, that kissed her.

Sam looked at the scene with surprise, as Kara was, was too stunned to react... Isis ended the kiss as suddenly as she initiated it, and got up, while the _Pacifica's _ Centurions kept pushing back on the Unity forces...

- "Get to the Raptors!" - Isis said, as she got up, getting her pistol from her holster and pointing at the woods...

With renewed sense of urgency, Thrace, Anders and the rest of the group moved into the Raptors. Mathias kept the suppressing fire, and the raiders and vipers fired more missiles, giving them the time to take off...

Kara set on the cockpit, and fired up the engines, as Isis jumped on the co-pilot seat, and manned the guns.

- "Ok, people, hold on, we're getting the frakk out of here!" - Starbuck said.

Sam grabbed on to a handle, as did Mathias, Hallard and Barolay. Leoben took control of the ECO console. When another Two, wearing the marine uniform, entered the ship, the three members of the resistance looked at him surprised...

- "Another day of work, huh?" - **Leoben "Hammer" Two**joked, as he helped a Centurion inside the ship.

- "What the Frakk?" - Hallard asked.

- "Close the hatch." - Kane ordered. - "Captain, get us out of here."

- "You don't have to say it twice." - Thrace replied.

The Raptor took of, and as they moved up, The Lieutenant gave the good news:

- "All raptors accounted for. I'm putting the coordinates to the jump now." - Kane informed.

- "We're not jumping" - Isis said - "The _Ionian_ is in orbit waiting for us..."

- "Ionian?" - Mathias asked.

- "Basestar _Ionian,_ the newest addition to the Second Colonial Fleet." - Isis said, pointing at the DRADIS, where the very strange sight of a Cylon Basestar broadcasting a Colonial Transponder was showing up.

- "Whatever... At least we won't be cramped up to the return trip." - Erin said...

They looked out of the window as they reached the Exosphere, and the Colonial Basestar was waiting for them...

[High Orbit over Canceron]

- "Sir, The warheads are ready." - Lieutenant Tallas reported. - "We can launch at any moment."

- "Are you sure you want to do this?" - Leela asked, in a low voice

- "Is the only chance that they have right now." - Jann replied, in the same way - "We can't accommodate them right now. This way, we even the odds, and they have a chance..."

She glanced at him, and saw his eyes fixed on the Map overlay on the console...

- "Miss Hikari, what is the status of the supply runs?" - Warryk asked.

- "All raptors completed their run, sir." - Kim reported – "They all broke low orbit."

Jann looked at Leela, that was focused on him, and nodded. The Six touched the datastream. The Missile Launchers pointed towards the planet below, and fired. Five rockets moved in different directions across the globe, and released a greenish gas in the skies over specifics coordinates... soon the green gas expanded, and building up on the radiation that was abundant in the atmosphere, kept expanding...

- "Report, Captain?" - Jann asked.

- "The Radiation Cloud will cover the planet completely in twelve hours." - Leela said - "The Datastream can't get anything on the surface already. Any Cylon that does not leave the surface in the next ten hours will be cut out of the stream."

- "What about the radiation levels, Miss Hikari?" - Warryk asked

- "Falling within expected range, Commander." - Kim said - "If the calculations are correct, they will stabilize in lower ranges in eighty four hours."

- "... and by then, the planet will be effectively sealed for at least sixteen months." - Leela concluded.

Bask exchanged glances with Kim, but didn't voice his opinion.

- "Raptors are returning to hangar." - The lieutenant informed.

- "Commander, _Ionian_ reports that they have the SAR team aboard..." - Hikari said.

- "Very Well. Order them to jump back to base." - Warryk said.

Hikari went to pass along the orders, and Loudmouth spoke to Jann:

- "You now have two Basestars and a Shipyard under your command." - Phineas said - "Adama won't be very happy about it."

- "That's why we won't say much to him." - Warryk replied, in a low voice, as he looked at the live image of Canceron, the green gaseous layer covering the continents..

- "A wise choice." - Said **Pieter Finley** as he approached the CNC console.

Leela noticed the demeanor of her CO, the way he seemed to be talking to someone imaginary. Hikari and Bask didn't know better, but they dismissed that as being a quirk of a strangely brilliant man, but she knew better. Sometimes, she just wished she could participate in those conversations...

Whatever the Conclave was talking with Jann, he seemed at easy, and that was at least a good indicator. However, she was careful not to let those meetings bring to much attention to the CO; that could raise inconvenient questions regarding his mental stability...

- "Commander. Our FTL drives are charged and ready, sir." - The Captain informed

- "Then, by all means, Leela, take us back home." - Warryk said.

The Blonde Captain nodded, and with her hand still in the datastream, she passed along the order to the hybrids...

END OF ACT


End file.
